Erik Hougen

Erik Hougen was born in Bismarck, North Dakota, and currently lives and works in Maplewood, New Jersey. His dreamy, phantasmagoric works combine photo screenprint with painting, spraying, and leafing to create richly layered compositions. He often draws from memories of his childhood, found images of supernatural encounters, uncanny landscapes, and plotted points on maps. Hougen uses these sources as open-ended points of exploration rather than fixed narratives. Influenced by artists and filmmakers like R.H. Quaytman, David Lynch,and Richard Hamilton, Hougen’s work carries a sense of familiarity that is quietly unsettling. His practice pays tribute to their surreal imagery, while maintaining his own distinctly dark and playful sense of humor.

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