Today we’d like to introduce you to Alain Hentschel
Hi Alain, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My career as an artist began like that of many artists, as a child. Indeed, like many children, drawing and painting came naturally to me and was a great way to pass the time. Perhaps even more for me as an only child, since there were no siblings to distract me. By the time I headed for college (California State University at Long Beach) I was trying to find a creative pathway that might also pay the bills. My first idea was architecture. I spent most of my college years working for an architect -doing odd jobs, printing floor plans as well as drafting. That experience cured my ambitions in that direction as I found the business of architecture lacking in aesthetic appeal. Then I tried industrial design (as it was called in the day) and ultimately found I wasn’t suited to the hardcore practicality of that aspect of design thinking. After that I tried illustration. While that was closer to my interests, it still was not something I was particularly good at. Eventually, I settled on painting and drawing which I immediately loved and where I had no problem exercising my imagination, feeling satisfied and fulfilled, but still with no clue as to how I would make a living. The road to solvency was long. It would lead me to Paris in a twenty-two year stint at Parsons School of Design, in a series of jobs, mostly teaching, culminating with my position as Director. In 2002 my wife and I decided to relocate to New York City after many years living abroad. Following a brief stint working at Parsons School of Design, in the city, a subsequent move to the suburbs of Chicago in an associate dean position at the College of DuPage lasted six years. My final full-time academic assignment was Dean of Florida School of the Arts in 2009. After some 13 years as Dean, my retirement in December of 2021 allowed me to fully pursue my passion for painting and related creative endeavors. My efforts in this vein have afforded me the opportunity to exhibit in numerous venues such as The Bart and ArtBox galleries in St. Augustine and other exhibition spaces throughout my home state.
Additionally, opening a small gallery (the first in the city of Palatka FL), with a group of local artists collectively called the Gathering Artists in Putnam (GAP), has brought an animating force to what was once a depressed downtown. The GAP is gaining notoriety as a community-minded entity that engages the public with diverse offerings in the area of visual arts. Personally, my involvement with GAP as a founding member and current president marries my ambition to exhibit my work locally with my desire to contribute to my community and has been an important component of feeling relevant late in my career as an artist.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I believe that only if you have important family members or friends in high places can you hope for a smooth ride in the arts – and even then, there are no guarantees. Everyone I know who has forged a career in the arts has worked extremely hard to achieve their goals. I think the key is persistence. I have worked as janitor, factory worker, handy man, house painter, to name a few. Eventually work titles also included adjunct faculty member, full-time faculty member, part-time administrator, director, associate dean and dean, all the while never letting go of my desire to pursue creative activities.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
In general, I think artists evolve and change according to influences they experience, both external and internal. In my own work, I have found that everywhere I’ve lived (and there have been many places around the world) remnants of each place turn up in my paintings, sometimes environmental, sometimes intellectual, sometimes sentimental. I liken it to being a potted plant that gets moved around, maybe from window to window, or house to house. Each time the plant follows the light – twisting to receive needed energy, nutrients and perhaps even inspiration?
As my work naturally evolved over the years, I look back and see how each locale, each phase of my life, got translated into imagery from sparse to complex, though often with trademark vibrancy. At present, I feel a distinct connection to my semi-rural riverfront community in northeast Florida and find a desire to represent, more than ever before, a connection to my current locale. In making this connection between place and image, without being literal, I find inspiration materializes into a wealth of objects that populate my mindscapes. While for the audience, the references may seem abstract and loosely defined, for me they represent something very specific. That specificity helps direct me in how I resolve a painting. It must make sense to me for the painting to have any chance of making sense to anyone else, even if the work remains open to interpretation for the viewer. Ultimately, that’s why what is expressed in paint cannot be expressed in any other way. If the poetic image could be expressed in words, then it would be a poem, but it’s not.
The work I’m doing now is an amalgamation of influences I’ve experienced over the years. With age and experience I feel liberated to freely mix and match styles and techniques. The means by which an idea is expressed is always at the service of the idea itself. Risks are encouraged with this mentality and freedom is the result. That’s the goal of my methods and procedures today. It is up to the viewer of a given painting to judge whether or not I’ve succeeded.
Do you any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
When I was four years old, I traveled with my mother to visit our family in France. In those days people sailed the Atlantic in large ocean-going vessels taking several days to make the crossing. I remember being seasick most of the time. It was not my favorite childhood memory. However, what happened once we arrived ignited my imagination for years to come. I remember looking in the windows of the local patisserie and being flooded with desire, not just culinary, but visual. The sights and scents of the elaborate creations stacked so beautifully with their delicately decorated surfaces invited me to imagine a full immersion into them. Delicious crèmes and chocolats enrobing me in complete ecstasy. This was not something I could get from a Twinkie. And so was ignited something that was clearly different and not readily accessible in my homeland. In that moment, staring at confections extraordinaire, my world view expanded. This sensation of sensorial possibility continues to this day.
Well, perhaps the die was cast early on. When I think about some of my early experiences they all fit a pattern. It seemed preordained that I would become an artist, but the reality is more complicated. When I consider of a few critical moments that might have gone differently I might still be working in a factory warehouse driving a forklift. My life as an artist is blessed. To be able to do what I love so consistently over the years is a privilege and it has taken the cooperation and assistance of many along the way. I am grateful to all who have lent their support, material and moral, and hope that I have likewise helped a few fellow artists on their path to fulfillment.
Pricing:
- 1. “Birthday Bouquet” 20″ X 24″ $750; 2. “Emotional Contagion Theory” 20″ X 24″ $750
- 3. “The River Keeper of St. Johns”” 24″ X 36″ sold; 4. “Monet Strolls The Ravine Gardens” 24″ X 30″ sold
- 5. “The Artist” 20″ X 24″ sold; 6. “The Narcissist” 20″ x 24″ sold
- 7. “The Husband’s Aura” 20″ X 24″ sold;
- 8. “Summer Lilies” 24″ X 20″ $750
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.forces-at-play.com
- Instagram: forcesatplay
- Facebook: Alain Hentschel
Image Credits
Artist portrait by Ginger Danto
All other photos by Alain Hentschel
