Artist and educator John Paul McCaughey visited Stanislaus State on November 19 through Zoom to provide an insight into his journey as an artist, which involves printmaking, painting, and collage. McCaughey also took time to do a brief Q&A with Stan State students and other attendees.
In 2012, McCaughey graduated from Rhode Island College with a BFA in Printmaking. Following this, McCaughey earned an MFA from the Ohio State University. He has held art exhibits nationwide and internationally. An important factor of his life is his hometown in Providence, Rhode Island.
“I spent the first 21 years of my life there,” said McCaughey. “That’s kind of a long time to hang around your hometown, but for what it’s worth it wasn’t the worst hometown to have.”
As growing up and school came with its challenges, McCaughey would get out by exploring the city which was the inspiration behind his creative career.
“I really liked old, abandoned buildings and viewing the graffiti that was kind of sprawling out across the city. It was through these kinds of walks and these explorations of the city that I was exposed to graffiti,” explained McCaughey.
What stood out to McCaughey was the act of the graffiti being placed and then being painted over by the teams of people hired by the city. McCaughey viewed the different shades of paint to cover up the graffiti as a form of abstract art.
“I was always interested in that little dance between this expressive act, or vandalism, versus the censorship of that act,” he explained.
McCaughey was also introduced to printmaking, which became prevalent by Shepard Fairey, known for his Obama Hope poster and the Obey brand.
“It was my first glimpse at the power of repetition; the more people saw these, the more people wanted to know what it was about.”
McCaughey eventually attended college at Rhode Island College as a first-generation graduate. He soon found his passion for art after taking printmaking classes. He enjoyed the process along with the political and social background involved in some printmaking.
“Another thing that really drew me into printmaking was this history of being at the forefront of political and social change,” explained McCaughey.
Painting and collage also became of interest after being introduced to other art forms while in college. Another influence, Mark Bradford, introduced the concept of working with your environment in art.
Some examples of McCaughey’s work include “Translation,” a mixed media piece, and “The Sleep of Existing Conditions Produces Monsters,” a piece made solely from pried off advertisements from a pole. A notable work of his includes his use of QR codes and creating interactive art from it.
“I started creating a body of work that was based on just QR codes, with the idea that when you scan them it would do something more interesting than just bring you to a website,” said McCaughey.
An element that stood out to McCaughey was surveillance cameras, which he incorporated into another work titled “Obsolete-ly Watching You,” a painted QR code on a wood panel that included a hidden webcam.
“There’s a little camera in one of the pixels so when you walk by it, your image is being projected in another area of the gallery,” explained McCaughey. “The piece is actually watching you and people in the gallery are watching you walk by the piece.”
Many of McCaughey’s works are inspired by the digital world and incorporating it into the real world. One of these pieces is entitled, “In Which Was Once a Dichotomy,” which includes many elements of the virtual world which is brought to life by a unique sculpture.
“[I was] combining real world objects with things like twigs and debris that I was finding on the street, with also things that we’re really reminiscent of our digital realm,” said McCaughey.
As with many artists, McCaughey does consider what viewers think of his work, but also enjoys the freedom that comes with his practice, and the mystery behind it.
“With the way that I work I really don’t know what these things are going to come out like. I love the fact that I have no clue what these things will look like,” explained McCaughey.
With so many different genres and styles of art, ranging from traditional painting to abstract art, it does provide a sense of individuality and identity for artists, with no right or wrong answer to creating art.
“To each their own,” said McCaughey. “I think there are some artists out there that are making editioned works, and they’re beautiful and gorgeous and it makes a lot of sense.”
 “There are also printmakers out there that are like activists, and they’re using printmaking to convey a message and I think that’s also really important, too.”
McCaughey’s virtual lecture provided a unique insight into creating art and its different forms. For aspiring artists or for anyone in their field of work, there are many ways to explore a medium and put a different spin on it.