Walking down the paint aisle at a home-improvement store and examining the vibrant hues of color swatches calls to mind an infinity of vague possibilities. But it's often hard to visualize exactly how you could incorporate a new color into your everyday living space. Artist Shawn Huckins takes on the challenge by incorporating scenes into paint-swatch gradients. Employing a retro style that depicts average-Joe citizens in down-home environments, Huckins creates a sort of commentary on daily life while paint swatches serve as the backdrop.
Huckins says he was originally interested in doing The Paint Chip Series because he is fascinated by the mundane experiences and simple pleasures of daily life. That's also why he chose to focus his work on the hardware-store-themed paint swatch cards. “Bands of color we may choose for our most intimate spaces–bedrooms, kitchens, family rooms–are an ideal stage to examine the everyday people and objects that occupy our world,” he says. “While the products and services we use, the clothes we wear, and the food we consume may be uniform and standardized, I find pure, simplistic beauty and exceptional intimacy in the common object and our everyday environment.”
