Artist-In-Residence: Electric Coffin

One of the two visionaries behind Seattle’s coolest art studio, Electric Coffin, Stefan Hofmann talks to Assembly about their creative process.

Welcome to The Assembly Journal. Each month, we celebrate the artist-in-residence by taking you on an editorial journey through their craft and process. For this installment, we sit down with one of our July artists in residence, Stefan Hofmann of Electric Coffin.

Electric Coffin is no stranger to the world that lies beyond expectations. Every piece they create, whether a print or a sculpture, is fantastical in a way that sets them apart from others in that medium (which is whatever medium being mastered at that moment). Walking around the studio, you're inundated with what seems to be one fantastic piece after another. It's hard to grasp the enormity of it all. Many of these pieces are substantial in scale but also in attention to detail.

A studio in Georgetown is home to Electric Coffin, House of Sorcery, and the many collaborators that work to bring these big ideas to life. We traveled there to ask them about their art, how they found their style, and what's next and got to sit with Co-Founder, Stefan Hofmann. As I spoke with him, a neon pink and purple sculpture made of toys and other wondrous objects (did I spot Godzilla in there?), spanning several feet, hovered on the wall behind him. "I use many different materials and processes we're always experimenting," he says. 

Hi Stefan! Can you tell me about yourself and about Electric Coffin?

We're a studio that sliced down the middle. We have a design studio called House of Sorcery that's very collaborative with clients and more of the commercial world, and then we have Electric Coffin, which is more fine art in the gallery museum world. So we function on both sides; it's pretty cool to see how techniques will flow back and forth and ideas push each other from the two disciplines. It's always really interesting.

Could you explain EC’s art, process, and what you do at Electric Coffin?

I use many different materials and processes we're always experimenting with, so it's hard to pin it down to one thing.

Where do you find inspiration every day?

The world around us. Surfaces, old metal, typography, a social situation in the world. A lot of things drive me.

How has the style changed over time?

I think processes change materiality, but the driving motifs and ideas are similar. So they haven't changed, but they tend to be represented in new ways.

How do you collaborate with the other artists here?

Duffy and I come together and discuss a lot of things and come up with a direction. I kind of pin down what we're going to do and then move forward from there and build it to get it out into the world

What is a piece you're most proud of?

It's usually the last thing I make, but not always. If it makes it to the end, that's usually what I'm most excited about until another project comes down the pipeline. So I think it's cumulative. You learn from the last things you've done, try to put those new insights into the work, and keep building.

Prints for sale by Electric Coffin at Assembly on July 9th from 4 -9 pm.

For more from Stefan and Electric Coffin, follow @electriccoffin

Explore more from our artists in residency.