Daily Inspiration: Meet Elliot Strunk

 

Today we’d like to introduce you to Elliot Strunk

Hi Elliot, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I am a North Carolina transplant from Cleveland, Ohio, with a BFA in Graphic Design from Ohio University. I’m fortunate to have been recognized for my design work and have taught classes at Salem College and Guilford College, currently advise my alma mater’s fine arts school and am about to take on an advisory role at High Point University as well.

While not a stranger to fine (rather than applied or commercial) art, I have only recently begun collage work in earnest. My art is made using found objects and ephemera. Cardboard from a case of cat food. Trash found in a parking lot. Preselected colors from completed paint-by-numbers kits. There is no master plan. What gets used is left to chance. It comes via mail, traveling, whatever I stumble upon and whatever is left behind by other people.

I have also recently begun dabbling in digital collage as well for oversize pieces regular collage won’t allow for. I use open source, freely available online images as I find them, just as I would in a printed magazine.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I began my work during Covid slowly and gradually. It was something therapeutic. Working with my hands, getting away from screens.

As I began to build a library of work, I wondered what I could do with it. I approached a local co-op gallery to learn about showing art and also connect with the local arts community more deeply. That has allowed for a nice cadence in terms of both creating and showing work, and has led to collaborative shows with other artists as well as my own solo shows.

I’m trying to not put any pressure on myself, just to go at my own pace in terms of output. I’ll have bursts of activity, then channel my energy somewhere else for a time, then return. I have been approached for commissions and realized I’d be really bad at it. My early attempts to meet the criteria of other people brought the work too close to my day job. I have to keep something for myself.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m more known in the local community as a designer. I’ve been doing it for a long time. What’s been interesting is that some people see that profession as very creative, others not so much. When I mention my collage work, people will say, “I didn’t know you were a fine artist!”. I find that response very odd. To me there’s no difference. Creative output comes in many forms.

When people who don’t know me see my work and I then tell them I’m also a designer, they tend to have an a-ha moment. I feel the work is loose and unstructured while they will see more balance, structure and purpose in the compositions.

I like that my work lives in this liminal space between those two bookends.

The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
The creative act is a therapeutic one. Take time to make art for yourself and not always for others. Let intuition be your guide, live in the moment and reflect on the results.

My work is often stream of consciousness. I’m a big fan of Jackson Pollock because his work was the result of his bodily actions. It captures moments of intent as an artifact. I hope my collage does that in some small way as well.

Pricing:

• $150 is the price point for a typical 5″ x 7″ framed piece.
• Call or email for other items. I’ll add more prices to my website.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.mixed-results.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mixed_results_collage/