artist lecture - matt hutton.

Matt Hutton, of the Maine College of Art, visited UNH for a lecture on woodworking and furniture design. Although my concentration is photography I have a strong appreciation for 3D art and would be a sculptor if I thought I would be marketable enough. Hutton started his career in illustration, fascinated by medical diagrams, and to this day shows skill in 2D iterations of his work. He regularly plans his designs with to-scale drawings, more conceptual than technical, and proceeds to render these plans into his wooden pieces. I like his way of thinking, he seems interested in ideas above all, and comes across as a great mentor. He noted that his father was an engineer, and his inherited interest in machinery is apparent in his work. Honestly seeing his work made me wish I put a little more thought into pursuing 3D art, not that I can't on my own, but his simple-machine infused woodworking represents a direction I never pursued. I think its important that he considers work ethic central to art, we all know how many hours we need to put in but we don't always show up for all of them. I like the term "heightened moments" that he used, similar to the "decisive moment" but referring to spacial moments not moments in time.