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Angie Huffman was born and raised near Dallas, Texas. She graduated from the University of North Texas with a BFA in Drawing and Painting in 2010, and relocated to Eastern Iowa in 2014.
Huffman’s work has been exhibited in solo and group shows, as well as national and regional juried exhibitions in museums, galleries, and art centers throughout the country. It is included in the permanent collection of the Yellowstone Art Museum, as well as in private collections in Texas and the Midwest.
Huffman’s work has been exhibited in solo and group shows, as well as national and regional juried exhibitions in museums, galleries, and art centers throughout the country. It is included in the permanent collection of the Yellowstone Art Museum, as well as in private collections in Texas and the Midwest.
Published on March 19th, 2023. Artist responses collected in months previous.
What are you fascinated with right now?
I have a lot of ideas. They like to come into my head when I am trying to fall asleep or waking up in the morning. Historically, I’ve been laser-focused on photorealist painting, so having strong desires to create work in lots of other directions has been new, energizing, and daunting.
At the moment I have been experimenting with creating non-representational compositions with dice rolling. I create a set of steps to be followed (ie. if x is rolled, then y happens visually), and then see what chance outputs. It is wild how many variables/steps can be introduced, and the creation process is far less taxing than my usual painting process. Development is still in its infancy, but it is a welcome experiment, and I am optimistic it can be incorporated with my existing work.
What advice would you give your younger artist self?
You can sleep. Your standards are higher than others and self-imposed. Pay attention to and take care of yourself. Having a day job is more taxing than you think. Your body can only do so much.
You can make smaller work. It is completely viable, and storing a lot of large work going forward is not going to be easy. Oh, and for the love of everything, stop eating gluten. That whole health thing you can’t figure out? It’s the gluten.
What are your tools for creative resilience these days? Do you have any methods to stay positive when life becomes difficult and perhaps when you have limited time to create?
As always, my friends are very helpful. Having supportive people to talk to with fresh opinions is invaluable. I am fortunate to have their indulgence.
Creating photorealist work has always been incredibly time-intensive, which generates a lot of frustration since time is limited. Over the years I have been exploring and embracing working smaller to help offset this. Lately I have also been brainstorming and dipping my toe into other directions that hopefully will be less time consuming, or at least less mentally taxing. Having lots of different ideas creates fresh feelings of time restriction, but ultimately, I am optimistic about trying new things and expanding the landscape of experiences that I can offer to viewers.
What is your dreamy vision for your creative career and art practice three years from now?
I have a better day job/art career balance. I have sculptural work, interactive work, and other offerings on top of and intermixed in with my photorealist paintings. My website format has been modified to reflect this, and I have space to store the things I have made.
I will have built upon developments from this year, including continuing to have solo shows, and becoming more involved with the Iowa Pop Art Festival (an arts festival focused on Iowa artists.)
How are you being kind to yourself as you look towards realizing your vision for your art career?
As mentioned above, I am looking into branching in directions that I find compelling and exciting.
Previously I have looked for show calls on a regimented schedule, and it was fairly time-consuming. Personal events came up this year that caused me to have to step back from doing so, but at the same time, local opportunities arose that I could not have anticipated. It has been an eye-opening reminder of how life is more complex and less controllable than I probably give it credit for, and that I should be less uptight and more open minded about things.
What are you fascinated with right now?
I have a lot of ideas. They like to come into my head when I am trying to fall asleep or waking up in the morning. Historically, I’ve been laser-focused on photorealist painting, so having strong desires to create work in lots of other directions has been new, energizing, and daunting.
At the moment I have been experimenting with creating non-representational compositions with dice rolling. I create a set of steps to be followed (ie. if x is rolled, then y happens visually), and then see what chance outputs. It is wild how many variables/steps can be introduced, and the creation process is far less taxing than my usual painting process. Development is still in its infancy, but it is a welcome experiment, and I am optimistic it can be incorporated with my existing work.
What advice would you give your younger artist self?
You can sleep. Your standards are higher than others and self-imposed. Pay attention to and take care of yourself. Having a day job is more taxing than you think. Your body can only do so much.
You can make smaller work. It is completely viable, and storing a lot of large work going forward is not going to be easy. Oh, and for the love of everything, stop eating gluten. That whole health thing you can’t figure out? It’s the gluten.
What are your tools for creative resilience these days? Do you have any methods to stay positive when life becomes difficult and perhaps when you have limited time to create?
As always, my friends are very helpful. Having supportive people to talk to with fresh opinions is invaluable. I am fortunate to have their indulgence.
Creating photorealist work has always been incredibly time-intensive, which generates a lot of frustration since time is limited. Over the years I have been exploring and embracing working smaller to help offset this. Lately I have also been brainstorming and dipping my toe into other directions that hopefully will be less time consuming, or at least less mentally taxing. Having lots of different ideas creates fresh feelings of time restriction, but ultimately, I am optimistic about trying new things and expanding the landscape of experiences that I can offer to viewers.
What is your dreamy vision for your creative career and art practice three years from now?
I have a better day job/art career balance. I have sculptural work, interactive work, and other offerings on top of and intermixed in with my photorealist paintings. My website format has been modified to reflect this, and I have space to store the things I have made.
I will have built upon developments from this year, including continuing to have solo shows, and becoming more involved with the Iowa Pop Art Festival (an arts festival focused on Iowa artists.)
How are you being kind to yourself as you look towards realizing your vision for your art career?
As mentioned above, I am looking into branching in directions that I find compelling and exciting.
Previously I have looked for show calls on a regimented schedule, and it was fairly time-consuming. Personal events came up this year that caused me to have to step back from doing so, but at the same time, local opportunities arose that I could not have anticipated. It has been an eye-opening reminder of how life is more complex and less controllable than I probably give it credit for, and that I should be less uptight and more open minded about things.
Find Angie Huffman on Instagram
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