UW–Madison’s Fred Stonehouse, associate professor of painting and drawing in the School of Education’s Art Department, was recently featured on The Arts Page, a public television program presented by Milwaukee PBS.
On the program, Stonehouse shares the influences and ideas behind his body of work — described by the show as the “stuff of nightmares, full of strange creatures and dark scenes.”
Stonehouse admits his work is not for everyone. “I’ll look at things I make and I’ll be like, ‘Oof, that’s rough,’” he says. But he also embraces that edge: “I refuse to make a thing with no edge. In fact, that’s when I’ll get upset. If I look at a thing, I’m like, ‘This has no edge.’ Then I gotta keep working on it.”
Stonehouse says he is inspired by images, often from his past, peers, or dreams. “I definitely tap into my dream life, which is terrifying,” he says. “I’ve always said I’m an artist who’s driven by images. I’ve always found images really, really compelling.”
Stonehouse’s career began with a successful solo exhibition in Chicago just a year after graduating from art school — which he pursued after a brief stint in trade school training to be an auto mechanic. While he considered leaving Milwaukee for a larger art scene, he chose to stay in his hometown. “The decision to stay in Milwaukee was really an important one for me,” he says. “I need to be in a comfortable space to be creative. I’m a fan of Milwaukee, it’s home, it’s where I’m comfortable, and it’s where I can get work done.”
For the past 20 years, Stonehouse has been teaching at UW–Madison. “I used to joke and say, ‘I don’t teach anything, I just hang out with artists all day,’” he shares. “Which is true, but that’s a type of teaching. When I came to teaching, it was such a gift to me to be able to share all these things I had learned.”
Reflecting on what sustains him as an artist, Stonehouse stresses the importance of originality. “Somewhere in that space between wanting to have made that thing and the thing you actually make is where you discover your own voice, I think.” He added: “I care about being able to live a life that feels meaningful. And as an artist, there’s only one way to do that, and that’s being authentic.”
Listen to the full PBS feature.