Imagine you’re staring at a piece of art where the lines that form the image are crisp and clean — almost as if they are computer-generated. Only, upon further examination, it becomes evident that they are in fact human-made — painstakingly drawn for hours in repeating patterns. When observed for long enough, the image may appear as if it is taking on a motion of its own. As time goes on, a number of thoughts may occur: “What does this piece remind me of?,” “What was the artist thinking?” or “What did the artist want me to think when I saw this?”
So describes the process one might go through when observing a piece of art created by University senior Samuel Hauser,@@http://directory.uoregon.edu/telecom/directory.jsp?p=findpeople%2Ffind_results&m=student&d=person&b=name&s=Samuel+Hauser@@ a painting and drawing major. One of Hauser’s friends and an art appreciator, George Schultz,@@http://directory.uoregon.edu/telecom/directory.jsp?p=findpeople%2Ffind_results&m=student&d=person&b=name&s=George+Schultz@@ commented, “I think that’s one thing about Sam’s art, is that it’s super thought-provoking. You often just start asking questions.”
This is one thing that Hauser makes clear when discussing his art: His pieces are meant to encourage thought, but the concept behind the art (which is largely created with ink-drawn or painted images and portraits on canvas or wooden panels) will not be blatantly obvious.
“I don’t want to blatantly spell it out for you but kind of give you the seed of the idea and grow it yourself,” said the 22-year-old, referring to the pieces he has planned for his final student project, which will not be presented until May 2012.
Although the production date still months away, the artist has already begun the initial brainstorming for his final pieces. The project — with a concept based on the idea of beauty and destruction — will feature wooden panels, shotgun shells in various forms and his signature ink-drawn designs and patterns. Hauser wishes to remain secretive about the full concept behind the project so that viewers can form their own ideas when they see it.
“Every piece he does,” said graduate student Elliot Finkel,@@http://directory.uoregon.edu/telecom/directory.jsp?p=findpeople%2Ffind_results&m=student&d=person&b=name&s=Elliot+Finkel@@ Hauser’s former roommate and longtime friend, “he has an idea behind it and a concept behind it. And it’s a concept that isn’t so far-fetched … You can see where he’s coming from, but at the same time, every person can interpret it different, and Sam doesn’t care if you do or not. So, I think that’s really cool because some artists get really bothered about that.”
While planning to move to New York upon graduation to live with his sister and pursue a career as an artist, the Phoenix native  admits that he hasn’t always been focused on painting and drawing professionally. In fact, when taking art classes in high school, Hauser revealed that he didn’t find much support.
“My art teacher told me to never draw again, she told me I was horrible … It’s kind of weird, being like a 16-year-old kid and having someone tell you that you suck at doing what you really like to do,” he said. “I was like ‘Well, I’m just going to keep doing it, I like doing it.’ It wasn’t until later that I thought about doing it as a career.”
Attributing his initial thoughts on becoming a professional artist to his high school English teacher and to a painted self-portrait by artist Chuck Close,@@http://www.chuckclose.coe.uh.edu/life/index.html@@ Hauser has spent a lot of his free time in his studio, working on his pieces and also acting as a studio assistant for a professor in the University’s art department.
“I’ve had people tell me ‘If you can picture yourself doing anything other than art, then you shouldn’t be an artist,’ and I’m like, ‘This is the only thing I can do,’” Hauser said. “It’s the only thing I’m good at, it’s the only thing I want to do and I can’t picture myself being in any other occupation.”