Artist Statement
My drawings provide a pictorial narrative of life in America during the 1940's and 1950's.
In capturing the essence of life on the 'home front', I depict popular architectural and social icons of that era to create scenes of places where Americans gathered to pursue the fine art of having fun.
Architecture and light play key roles in my work and two major influences have had a most profound effect on the use of these elements in my drawings. The first was Edward Hopper, an artist in whose work architecture played a prominent role. Hopper used buildings as well as light to distill the essence of what is American and the success of his
work showed me the legitimacy of depicting the urban landscape.
The second influence arouse when I became familiar with Life magazine from the forties. The light in their photos seems ethereal and yet ready to burst off the page with great warmth and an intensity which I have come to associate with that time even though I know it was probably due to more primitive photo materials.
Born too late to have truly experienced the 1940's, I instead rely on written and verbal stories and imagery gathered from extensive photo files. I then create visual folktales to illustrate the style and romance which withstood the brutality of a world war to influence us even today in music, literature, fashion and the theatre.
I prefer to work in graphite because I realize how appropriate it is for illustrating an era whose photographic and cinematic imagery were predominantly in black and white. Also, the wonderful tactile relationship between pencil and paper enables me to intimately connect with the creative process.
In the future I intend to continue refining by technique. I feel this will evolve through a combination of diligence and the process of growing older and acquiring, I hope, greater wisdom. I have also begun to take a less literal approach to my subject matter with the goal of enabling the viewer to subconsciously participate to a greater degree in the process of communication.
The making of each drawing reveals a little bit more to me about the medium, the little bit more it will take to complete the next drawing.
About the Artist
Richard Chandler Hoff is a graphic designer who received his BFA from the Maryland Institution College of Art. His work was included in the 1985 and 1987 American Artist National Art Exhibitions.
