Shawn Huckins was born in New Hampshire, and received his BA in studio art from Keene State College, graduating magna cum laude in 2006. Huckins was first introduced to painting after inheriting his grandmother’s oil painting set at the age of nine. As an adult, his exposure to the arts has taken a route through studies in architecture and film, and included a stint living on the other side of the world (at the University of Wollongong in New South Wales as an exchange student in 2004).
Eventually Huckins gravitated back to painting, and has taken inspiration from a wide range of styles and movements, from 18th Century American Neo-Classical painters to 20th Century Pop artists. Using historical paintings and photography from the 19th Century (including images of Native Americans, Abraham Lincoln, and Civil War heroes), Huckins recreates classic works for the 21st century. He transposes the language of Facebook, Twitter, and texting onto his replicated paintings, folding history upon itself in hilarious juxtapositions for a series called “The American __tier.”
Huckins explains that he usually starts with a painting, meticulously copying historical works. He then places his text over the finished canvas, picking from a collection of found tweets. His work addresses the evolution of communication, from families on the frontier who wouldn’t hear from relatives for weeks on end to the instantaneous interaction of a text message. It also speaks to the evolution of language, elevating words like “selfie” and “LOL.” Huckins currently lives and works in Denver, CO.