DENIZEN OF THE SCRAP YARD  My brother, Mark Hundley, took this portrait of me at Bobby Chenman's scrap yard in Norfolk, Va in 2014. Before he sold the business in 2017, I lo​v​ed roaming the yard there, letting my mind wander. I was able to hallucinate drug-free, completely absorbed in the moment, seeing all the wonderful things around me – not for what they were, but for what they might become!

ARTIST STATEMENT: I am a retired newspaper designer, author of books for children, and self-described American scrap artist. I create folk art using found objects.

After a lifetime of daydreaming and 39 years as a prolific newspaper artist-designer, pareidolia (seeing faces, animals, and other things in foliage, clouds, etc. – a healthy form of hallucination) became second nature and part of my daily routine.

I collect things that look interesting to me, without preconceptions. Once an object appears as something else, or suggests an idea to me, it tends to be fully formed in my mind. The resulting piece is usually composed of very few elements, which I assemble with Goop adhesive, screws, nails, wire, nuts and bolts. I do not weld, which forces me to work smaller and lighter.

It is important to me that the objects retain as much of their original integrity as possible, independent of the finished assemblage. Ideally, a viewer will see the composite and the separate objects simultaneously, which will ignite a spark of recognition, much like what I felt at the beginning of the creative process. That spark often surprises me, which is revelatory and fun – so I keep doing it!