John is an artist, designer, and contemplative thinker at the helm of "The Infinite Search," a podcast exploring the human experience to seek a better understanding of ourselves and the world around us.

The Present

Inspired by the shared human condition, their art and design invite viewers to ask big questions. To hold multiple truths. To covet the lived experience. To center on the heart. Hatherly believes in mastery taking generations and approaches their work with a sense of naïvety and wonder—an infinite search for voice through a series of discrete, playful explorations to create forms that awaken curiosity, inspire wonder, uplift neighbors, and illuminate life.

They’ve spoken at AIGA’s Ask + Give; appeared on the design podcast, Underscore; and featured work alongside the city’s preeminent designers as part of the Chicago Design Museum’s 2023 exhibition 'Free + Open' celebrating the last 10 years of design in Chicago. Their work has launched products, helped companies to ring the bell at the New York Stock Exchange, and been featured in publications like the Chicago Tribune, Hodinkee, Cool Hunting, Great Lakes by Design, and more.

Leading with love, they believe wholeheartedly that the world is what we make of it.

They are the founder of two creative studios focused on the multi-faceted aspects of creating positive cultural value in society:

Design: Chamber — est. 2023

Chamber is a purpose-driven creative studio dedicated to building a more inclusive, cooperative, and peaceful planet through heart-centered branding, design, and experiences for clients of every size.

They offer a diverse array of strategic creative services designed for meaningful collaboration and partner with leaders committed to positively impacting their communities and the planet in everything they do. They specialize in empowering a broad spectrum of clients—from financial investing and healthcare technology startups to cultural organizations and non-profits—by providing heart-centered creative solutions and consulting.

Art: Sondwerk — est. 2020

Sondwerk is a creative studio crafting meditative paintings, prints, and immersive, heart-centered experiences for the infinite search within.

Examining contemporary color theory and abstract composition through the blend of traditional art with technology, they explore themes of spirituality, mythology, value, human perception, futurism, and collective healing in their work. Their art seeks to inspire audiences to search for a deeper understanding of themselves and the world around them. Hatherly’s work has been exhibited with prominent museums, galleries, and fairs such as The Other Art Fair by Saatchi & Saatchi, Chicago Fine Art Salon, PLATFORM Chicago, Fulton Street Collective, and The Chicago Design Museum. Their art is housed in private collections worldwide, including across the United States, Europe, Asia, and Central and South America.

Why The Infinite Search?

Texas & Journeying to Now

I think we are all searching for something. Hope. Healing. Roots. Ritual. Meaning. Moments.

I was born in Corpus Christi, a regional hub in the valley of south Texas surrounded by corn, cotton, and the warm, salty waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

I lived for a while in Sinton, Texas—a much smaller town—where generations of farmers grew up and decades of depressed economic activity left the place feeling hopeless and left behind. Outsiders were often overlooked if not outright rejected. We stayed for three, formative years.

Although my parents had modest means and the best of intentions, it took me nearly three decades to fully understand the impact of growing up in a depressed, rural area of the country on welfare in a household where curiosity, resilience, adaptability, integrity, mindfulness, and creativity were not foundational values.

I had my first drink of alcohol and experienced blacking out at the age of 6. I had my first sexual encounter at the age of 8. I witnessed regular inter-familial physical and emotional violence. I was removed from any education or schooling from the ages of 9-12 on religious grounds, so I missed grades 4-7. They were formative years too.

I didn’t understand how hard life could be without the proper resources and community, I just knew I had to go.

I spent many years trying to coexist within the chaos, codependent on the same crutches my familial role models relied on, and unable to find my way. The creative path is only as rewarding as your spiritual, physical, and emotional well-being. After decades of difficulty and some health scares, I realized I was the parent I was searching for, and I needed to heal. That maybe we all need to heal.

I was 36 when I fell in love with myself. I started loosening the ties that bind and unraveling relationships and ways of being that no longer served me on this infinite search. The next year, the world would look a lot different.

New Beginnings: The Infinite Search

In the spring of the following year, I left my downtown Chicago apartment for my new daily routine—descending 19 flights of stairs to the basement garage exit and crossing the street every time I potentially came within 6 feet of another human being.

Turning the corner onto the feeder street of Lake Shore Drive, I caught clear eyesight down the length of Michigan Avenue, the busiest street in the city.

It was empty. No one. No car. No person. Nobody. 5pm. Rush hour. Alone. We were in lockdown, and the global pandemic had just taken the life of my doorman.

I had an epiphany. One of those things in the movies when the bush is on fire, or when the birds and butterflies start helping you navigate through a forest, or when you are offered a blue and red pill from someone in the coolest glasses and trench coat you’ve ever seen, or when you realize you have an opportunity to do something different with your life.

I had an epiphany and made a promise. The next day, I started a branding exercise drafting a vision and mission statement grounded on cooperation, wisdom, humility, and love. The LLC for Sondwerk was filed while I was still employed. I wrote a manifesto. I began making art and connecting with other creatives—first through hashtags online, and eventually in person—building a new community of people concerned with craft, and planet, and purpose beyond profit.

I began failing more often, more openly, and with less worry.

I began holding space for more conversation. People have a lot to say if you just ask.

I started thinking critically about what I was making and why. I parted ways with a job, an industry, a relationship.

I worked at another branding agency while getting my bearings—in life and my creative practice. Be soft, be kind. It takes time, and patience, and consistency to grow in love.

I began considering what a heart-centered media project might look like. What ways of being could we look toward to light a path? How could we create the future in the present, together?

I remembered Mother Theresa, “Never worry about numbers, help one person at a time, start with the person closest to you.”

In 2023, I left the agency to focus on my personal projects and plan de vida, or life’s purpose. We all need both.

I started interviewing friends about how we make meaning in life.

I continued failing, learning, searching, and growing. Rinse. Repeat.

In the fall of 2023, I filed the LLC for Chamber—a purpose-driven creative studio specializing in branding and design with heart.

And I continue to fail, to learn, to search, and to grow. Rinse. Repeat. Ad Infinitum.

This year, I invite you to join me in ten new conversations navigating the human experience, fostering connection, igniting hope, and leaving a lasting positive impact on the world.

We are all on this search together—every conversation and each connection an important step along the path. With deep gratitude, thank you for sharing your space and time with me.

“See, in all our searching, the only thing we've found that makes the emptiness bearable, is each other.”

Contact—1997