"As the years go by, your brain becomes a sponge, soaking up more information as you learn more and more and start testing the rules, eventually learning how to break them and still come up with something recognizable."        Gene Gunderson, a safety supervisor and expeditor for a Seattle-based construction company, currently lives in Auburn, Washington, the town in which he was born and raised. Gene shares his home with his two "killer cats," Bud and Sorka, who spend their days decreasing the population of the Koi fish pond in Gene’s Japanese garden. Gene has used trueSpace since the mid-1990s. Although Gene prefers to concentrate on art, he occasionally ventures into other areas with trueSpace. His design work includes pieces created to solve design problems for his employer. "We Deliver" was used as a starting point for engineers on a particular construction project, and two of the cantilevered platforms in the image were actually built for use on a high-rise building. Gene credits members of the trueSpace community for teaching him "almost everything I have learned in trueSpace." These resources were particularly important for Gene’s featured piece, "Life By the Drop." Gene says that the image "was the longest, most frustrating, and most satisfying image I ever did." Over a period of nine months, Gene worked on the piece while sharing his successes and difficulties with the trueSpace community. The archive of this discussion can be found here. Gene posted the ongoing updates and queries about the project in a public forum "as my way of paying back all I have learned from all my years on the trueSpace list." The account also gives the names of everyone who contributed to the creation of "Life By the Drop"; as Gene reports, "it was not a solo effort." Gene’s artistic interest stems from an intense personal desire: "I create my images because I have to; it’s a need I have. I look at ‘art’ and music as two different expressions of the same thing: creativity." Gene doesn’t think of himself has having a particular style, saying that by nature he doesn’t like "being predictable or pigeonholed." The two biggest influences on his work are Darris Dobbs and Dr. Jeff Wall. His artwork often focuses on musical greats, but Gene also spent a year doing a very personal series of trueSpace birthday cards for his family. These images, created under deadlines, were a challenge for Gene, who generally isn’t in a hurry with his images and has "the luxury of spending as much time as I want on them."  "Leif Salad" was an expansion of the "Birthday Card" concept: Gene needed to create a birthday card for his brother, but couldn’t get any old photos of him in time. The piece is based on the centerpieces his brother carves and brings to family reunions. When he’s not working or creating art with trueSpace, Gene can often be found relaxing in his Japanese garden, the inspiration for the "Tsukubai" image. Gene also intends to remodel his kitchen, and he’s used trueSpace to plan for this project as well. Check out "Kitchen" for a sample—and be sure to look carefully at the background, where another view of the garden is visible. Gene’s talent has also earned him a first place award in the Marlin Studios—trueSpace "Get Famous" contest, and his art is featured in Frank Rivera’s Inside trueSpace4. Gene was also selected as a winner of the first annual Caligari Corporation Golden Render Award in early 2001. "I make my images for my own enjoyment, devoting myself to bringing to the screen my own personal visions and ideas, not someone else’s."          "I want my images to say something, and not just be a pretty collection of objects. Sometimes I succeed in that; sometimes I don’t, but I keep on trying." One Man Show Index Email Gene Visit Gene's Site