My name is Jeff Houghtaling, and I am an artist living in Portland, Oregon.  Approximately five years ago, I experienced a necessary but painful event—the dissolution of an eight-year partnership—that inspired me to create a collaborative, large-scale painting.

Coping with such an abrupt life change led me to pursue a deeper level of understanding of the disconnection of two people; in this case a break up but could also refer to separation by death or abandonment.  The purposefully entitled Disconnect Project is intended to be a cooperative effort and cannot be achieved by my story alone.  Scientifically, we know that humans are chemically programmed to connect while the function for disconnecting is left mysteriously unprogrammed. It is my belief that the reasoning behind this innate deficiency is that we must seek out other connections (family, friends, spirituality) to deal with the loss.

The need for connection is so great that when there is no personal source of support, we often turn to strangers for consolation. For example, songwriters share their personal experiences or events to which they have a personal connection. Many of us relate to these songs of lost lovers or painful events and find ourselves within the lyrics as though the songwriter knew our own individual experiences.  With this in mind, the goal of The Disconnect Project is to be a hub of solace for those who are disconnected by including the thoughts, memoirs, significant songs or lyrics, poems, and stories from friends, family, and the community.

How will this be translated into a painting?  I intend on creating a narrative painting that includes text (either in its entirety or a segment) from your contributions or images and symbols inspired by your words.

I will respect all entries and will pass no judgment. Please be assured that I recognize how difficult it is to share stories of vulnerability and pain.  But, loss is universal and by creating this space I hope to assure you that you will not be alone.  I encourage entries to be factual and anonymous. However, the inclusion of a city or state would be a nice addition and reinforce the reality.  Embellishments are not necessary since all felt emotions are genuine and individually yours and most importantly, they are essential to one’s growth.  Stories that embody vulnerability and humility will bring comfort to others who struggle with the process of healing and may still feel wounded.

At this time, I do not have a concrete image in mind for the final painting. It is still conceptual, however, as your contributions are collected the painting will begin to take shape naturally, or as we say in Portland – organically.  I will post periodic images of its transformation and progress.  The “Project” is literally in the hands of those who participate in this project.  I will commit to a completion date of July 31^st, 2012.  This will encourage me to be focused and allow closure to the project, particularly since there are infinite possibilities with a project like this.  Once completed I will post a date of my next public show in the event any contributors want to experience the piece in person.  The exhibit will most likely be in Portland and possibly Seattle.

Thank you for taking the time to consider this project and I hope to hear from you soon.

Best regards,

Jeff