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The story behind the artist...
After graduating with a BFA from the University of Missouri, Jason Houchen relocated to Los Angeles where he discovered highly influential classical folk art, street, and a burgeoning pop surrealism art scene. Through his wood burnings, sculptures, mixed media and paintings he has developed a style that coalesce his Midwest influences with these newly found worlds. Described as being full of life and death, spirits and spirituality, history, as well as memories, his work provokes more questions than answers. Jason lives in Chicago, and has also received his MA in art education from Eastern Illinois University and his MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
I moved from a lifetime of drawing into the medium of wood-burning. I started adding ephemera and watercolor to the wood to add color and dimension. I love collecting and working with antique ephemera so much, that I now create both wood-burnings and mixed media collages. All ephemera in my work is old and original - nothing is reprinted. They are antiquities and hold an essence of history in each piece.
I've been called a “Renaissance Man”. I personally think of myself as a collector. A collector of different styles, crafts and influences that go into my work to make it what it becomes. I have collected antiques since my early teenage years, and have created art even before then. My mother put me in my first college art class when I was 8 years old, and it’s been a part of who I am ever since.
My work is influenced by materials such as Native American blankets and ceremonial clothing, antique quilts, antique cigar box lithography, or anything old and beautiful. It is also influenced by vintage folk art and craftsmen from around the world. All of this comes together to create a sort of flea market collage that is my brain, and has become my art.
Thank You For Looking. I Hope You Enjoy.
RECENT AWARDS: "Best in Show", at Old Town Art Fair, Chicago IL