![]() This ability is important in my assemblage-making, where doing what is essentially carpentry in my cluttered condominium/studio can be difficult and frustrating ("This whole thing is going to collapse if I don't remember where I put that long black screw!").Īnd how would you define yourself as an artist nowadays? What is your personal aim? Having studied psychology also helps me to understand why some people are avid art buffs, while others have little interest in art.īeing a soldier and a miner both taught me to persevere when dealing with physically challenging circumstances. I believe my psychology training gives me some insight into how unconscious mental processes can influence perception and emotion, a subject of particular interest to me because I take a surrealistic rather than representational approach in my assemblages. Also, having lived through some quite stressful experiences as a lawyer has helped me to deal with the unpleasant emotions that can impact any artist, everything from the frustrations involved in the creative process to the pain of rejection when being judged. These experiences serve to remind me, now that I'm retired, that I am finally free to revel in the irrationality and playfulness of making the kind of art I want to make. One way my experiences as a lawyer influenced my art is that they depended on logical and verbal reasoning. How do those different experiences influence your practice as an artist? ![]() You are a former lawyer, but you also have two degrees in psychology, and on top of that, you also "served in the Canadian military, delivered mail, worked underground as a miner, and, as lab assistant in a memory study, trained goldfish," as you mention in your biography. I have devoted myself exclusively to assemblage ever since. While wrestling with an unsatisfying painting, I began to stick various items to the canvas, and suddenly, I was in a new world of artmaking. In late 2018, I accidentally transitioned to making assemblage sculptures. Most of these involve manipulated digital photos, many created by superimposing a semi-transparent image onto an opaque image. Years later, I discovered Corel Painter, a computer art program, with which I estimate I have created about 10,000 digital art images. This time, I produced some paintings that I found satisfactory. I took up painting again in my early 20s when I purchased a beginner set of acrylic paints in a hardware store. I was very disappointed with the results and gave up art-making for almost ten years. I bought some oil paint, brushes, and canvas boards and completed one or two paintings. I first became aware of my desire to paint as a teenager. When did you start getting involved with visual arts, and how? Westermann, and Daniel Lind-Ramos.įirst of all, tell us about your background. He agrees with Francis Bacon that “The job of the artist is always to deepen the mystery.”Īmong the assemblage artists whose works Dave admires are Max Ernst, H.C. Surrealism has always appealed to Dave, so he welcomes ambiguities and incongruities when they appear. Some of his sculptures were inspired by coats of arms, and some by modern pinball machines, with their colorful, many-leveled complexity. ![]() ![]() To varying degrees, Dave favors symmetry in his art, but he also enjoys disrupting that symmetry. Most of the time, Dave begins an assemblage without a clear idea of where it is going rather, he tries to combine two items in an interesting way, searches for a compatible third, and so on. Among the objects that he especially likes are picture frames, kitchen implements, bird and animal carvings, children’s toys, jewelry, finials, tassels, doilies, and all sorts of hardware. More than once, something he picked up from the sidewalk ended up in an art piece. The components of his sculptures come from thrift stores, flea markets, and eBay. Working in three dimensions is much more fun for him than being confined to two. After years of painting with acrylics and digital art software, Dave has discovered the delights of assemblage.
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