Artist profile: Ian Hucke

Artist Ian Hucke 

Ian Hucke, a twenty year old artist who lives in New Mexico, uses a variety of mediums such as watercolor, markers, pastels and pen and ink to express himself and his experiences.  Ian has been drawing and painting since he was a child, but has recently become an even more prolific artist since his brain surgery in October of 2014 which he believes has tapped into and released a new level of skill and passion for his art.  His work Tentacle Boy done in pastel and pencil was inspired by a vivid dream Ian had after undergoing brain surgery that required drainage tubes and the shaving of his head.  It shows a wide-eyed man with pin point pupils and purple tentacles extending from his head representing someone with “A lot on their mind,” according to Ian.  It also shows his thoughts at having to endure illness and medical procedures and how a full beard and head of hair are enviable things.

Ian’s body of work shows a wide range of interest in experimenting with different styles and subjects such as the lovely The Light Tree showing stark light bulbs hanging from the branches of a bare tree made beautiful by its simplicity, to the more recent Kill Your Idols showing his love of drawing portraits.   Earlier works include The Upset Artist which shows a raging artist with an open mouthed scream, furrowed brow and head filled with art tools that seem to be growing from the subject’s enraged brain to The Pencil Shark, a piece which is a play on words. There is also Leonardo Da Vinci, a Mother’s Day gift to his mother Deborah Hucke who as a nutritionist, appreciates fruits, vegetables and flowers but also pays tribute to Ian’s love of the arts.

Leonardo da Vinci

Before his illness, Ian worked as a custodian for Zia Graphics, a retail outlet .  He relished the occasional opportunities to sketch for them, but can now no longer handle the physical requirements and is primarily focused on recovering – a full time job in itself.  While in the hospital, Ian filled the time he had by drawing endlessly.  With much time during recovery spent in waiting rooms and doctors offices, he became an observer of the people around him fascinated by their appearance and possible lives he had no way of knowing anything about.  In response, he developed a new passion, that of not only drawing the people he saw, but of creating a story about them. This is demonstrated in the work Stevie, a portrait of a striking young Australian woman with long red hair whose brief and fictitious life story include having a crush on her math teacher and hating her hair.  His community has also embraced his talent for drawing portraits which has led to a number of paid commissions and continues to increase.  One of these commissions came about when Ian endured a particularly long stay in a rehabilitation hospital.  During this time, Ian’s mother managed to smuggle in his beloved tabby cat, Rusty, for a visit.  Another mother, whose son was also in rehabilitation due to leukemia was inspired to do the same for her son and brought in the boy’s dog.  As a result, Ian was commissioned to do a painting of the boy shown with his beloved pet.

Currently, Ian is concentrating on his physical therapy as well as completing high school.  He will be attending the University of New Mexico in the fall to work on a core set of classes and is especially excited to be working on more portraits with accompanying fictitious stories he plans on revealing next year through an exhibition.  Eventually, he hopes to be accepted into a major art school to continue his work as an artist.  When asked to share a few words about himself, Ian said, “I love story telling.  My art, if I do it well, provides the ability to be a story teller without words.  I am thankful for my ability to excel at it, in spite of my physical deficits. My goal is to draw what I love well, and be able to make a living doing that.” 

Written by Maggie Womack, as told by Ian Hucke