Trenlin Hubbert is a multimedia artist.
The above is an interview with Trenlin conducted by Paul Desmond at the inception of my shift from painting on canvas to animated paintings.
Mission Statement
As a child I was captivated by cultural artifacts from the ancient world. There is a quality of aliveness in bone and stone and intricately patterned cloth that enthralls me. Whether sculpting, painting or animating, I speak in objects and symbols.
Artist Statement
I create Symbolist Art. The art employs a long developed lexicon of symbols. It is a journal of spiritual ruminations. In the work, my humans are informal archetypes. The positions, movements and facial expressions provide clues to their characters. The hand gestures are often formed into mudras to further elucidate the narrative. Sometimes animals establish a theme. Sometimes the animal presents as a personality. Backgrounds provide a mood or context. Feathers,spirals or geometric shapes, are most certainly elements of my vocabulary. The interplay between symbols are a discussion. They are an inquiry into subjects that otherwise defy words. (For more insight into my use of symbols, visit the Symbol Notebook.)
Some of my work includes the addition of high fidelity soundscapes. The music is a compilation of audio symbols. There is a baby´s rattle or the sound of water dripping in a cave. I am hard pressed to convey, how I come up with these compositions. I create the soundtrack only after the animation is complete.
Typically people who view my work ask me, “What does it mean?”
I have come to believe that each of us interpret symbols based on where we uniquely stand in our own life journey. This includes me. Though I put a lot of conscious effort and research into my work, at a certain stage my subconscious takes over to guide the interaction of the parts. When I return to a piece after a time, I have this sense that I am experiencing it differently than when I created it. Therefore, I intuit, these audio visual compositions initiate an internal dialogue that is unique to each viewer.
The work is best experienced when the viewer surrenders to a meditative state. The seamless looping helps to facilitate this process as the end becomes the beginning becomes the end.
I think it is important to add that I never use software to supply the movement of parts because the subtlety of interaction among elements are key to the dialogue. Each image in the animated sequence is composed as a self contained work of art. My architecture background affords me a great deal of discipline in this and other aspects of my work.
Artist Biography
Raised by an artist, Trenlin Hubbert grew up using oil paints, acrylics, water colors, clay, and art pencils on paper. She and her siblings, encouraged to be creative, also sang and put on plays. When it came time to attend college, Trenlin studied architecture. Upon graduating from Ball State University, she went to work for OCBA in Kalamazoo, Michigan. She served three successful years in that role. Then she decided to make a change.
Trenlin Hubbert moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico and fell in love with the place. For numerous years, she engaged in the practice of both her technical art and her fine art. During the middle 90’s, she produced acrylic work on canvas. She became fascinated with the graphic languages of antiquity. During that period, she developed a distinctive symbolic style. These works were well received and can be found in private collections around the world, including in Australia, England, and the United States.
In 2009, she returned to school to earn her Masters of Architecture. She concentrated on fabrication. Trenlin became fluent in 3d design and printing, digital graphics, and animation. This experience profoundly influenced the trajectory of her work.
In 2016, Trenlin published a science fiction novel called “Shaman Machine: the Mentor”. for which she received a Library Journal award for best sci-fi of 2016. The novel took four years to complete. This paralleled her creation of the Habitat Machines. These city scale machines interrogate the potentiality for conscious machines to interact with biological beings and processes. At first glance, the machines might appear to be a departure from her overall body of work. Yet on further examination, the connection becomes clear. The machines are a metaphorical meditation on consciousness.
In 2017, Trenlin moved to San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico. There she created her first animated painting. This led to an entirely new body of work. In 2021, she added sound.
Trenlin Hubbert continues to make Symbolist works in the form of painterly animations featuring allegoric storytelling.
Life in Pictures
Santa Fe, New Mexico had been a milieu for artist since the 1920’s. By the time Trenlin arrived, Santa Fe was the third largest art market in the United States. Trenlin swiftly became a central figure among the artists, poets, musicians, and children of privilege who composed the contemporary scene. She has been interviewed extensively about her work.
Interview by Jon Wilson: A conversation with Artist Trenlin Hubbert about art, myth and symbol
Interview by Isabella Biava: Inspiring talk with multimedia artist Trenlin Hubbert
Aztec Cafe Days
the 90’s
Throughout the 90’s the Aztec Cafe was a notorious hangout in Santa Fe, New Mexico for artists of all stripes.
Ojo Caliente Days
early 2000´s
Trenlin headed out to her property in Ojo Caliente, New Mexico to build an off-grid house and paint, paint, paint.
Sci-Fi Days
2010 to 2016
After graduate school, Trenlin wrote the sci-fi novel, made digital art, and designed the Habitat Machines.
Mexico Days
2017 thru 2022
Trenlin has been living in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico to explore the region and make animated paintings.
