Jeff Hantman

Artist Statement:

It is not until I chip a molar that I become aware of how my teeth rest against each other. It is discomforting and unsettling but I cannot help but explore the broken tooth with my tongue. My work has evolved because of a similar curiosity. I explore the possibilities of working with plywood in an unconventional way because it challenges me despite sometimes being unsuccessful.

As I travel I am drawn to structures and places that have been neglected and left to deteriorate under the sun and their own weight. As time passes and memories fade I try to recall places I visited once, the feeling of scraping a knee on the sidewalk or the pattern on the ceiling of my bedroom. If I could capture these places and objects my paintings would be a small collection of remnants from these journeys.

Jeff Hantman received a BFA in Printimaking in 1995 from the Rhode Island School of Design.  Jeff has been an artist living and working in the Bay Area since 1995.  After working in several print shops he began painting on scraps of paper that were going to be thrown out.  He would glue these smaller pieces together and paint on them, often tearing paintings in half and re-glueing them to form new compositions.  This technique of constructing and de-constructing is still going on.  In his most recent body of work he is screen printing on panels of found wood which he assembles to create curved structures that hang of the wall.