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Shadow World Series
1. Brittany from 'Shadow World: That's What My Hands Are For', 2007, oil on wood,
4" x 4"
2. McDonald's employee from 'Shadow World: Free Heat in Kensington', 2007, oil on
wood, 4" x 4"
3. Deaf Man from 'Shadow World: Yo Gorrila!', 2007, oil on wood, 4" x 4"
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Artist Statement
Shadow World is a project that I have been working on for all of 2007. Set under the el tracks in north Philadelphia, it is an exploration of this unique, fascinating and often intimidating place.
The subjects, both places and people, are ones that I come across in a decidedly unplanned method. Allowing for chance encounters and moments to guide the course of the project. Each encounter, captured on digital video is edited down to 2 to 3 minute vignettes that are available for viewing at undertheel.blogspot.com.
My intention is to show this world in a way that leaves judgment to the viewer. The videos are short portrayals of life as it comes to my camera. The lines between beauty and pain are often blurred.
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Rubber Sculptures/Scans
1. Untitled, 2008, flatbed scan of single bird; silicone rubber, wire, thread,
5-1/2" x 3-1/2"
2. Untitled, 2008, flatbed scan of two birds; silicone rubber, wire, thread,
5-1/2" x 3-1/2" each
3. Untitled, 2008, flatbed scan of multiple birds; silicone rubber, wire,
thread, 5-1/2" x 3-1/2" each
4.
The Sea, 2007, flatbed scan, silicone rubber, thread, 6-1/2" x 4-1/2"
5. Untitled, 2007, flatbed scan of two suitcases, silicone rubber, plexiglas
6-1/2" x 5" x 2-1/2"
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| Dimensions are approximations of sculpture size |
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Artist Statement
The process of detailed labor and interpretation is carried through in my sculptures. Based on photographs and sculpted in clay, paying close attention to fine details, they are then cast in silicone rubber with wire armatures. The armatures allow for the sculptures to be positioned into innumerable variations.
This series of work deals with security. The milky white translucent rubber suggests an almost dream-like world, void of sunlight where security and protection is the only object of need and hope.
Digital scans of the sculptures are at once documents of the sculptures as well as finished work themselves.
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| Artist Statement
Although the end result is extremely important, my work remains very much process oriented. The labored interpretation of moments and experiences is what interests me. Across multiple mediums, I have been capturing and collecting moments or strings of moments and through intense examination, I am fabricating objects and experiences that often seem more “real” than the original and then creating multiples or publishing the work online so that this new object or experience can be continuously reborn and take on new meaning that eventually overtakes or eclipses the original moment and calls the reality of that original into question.
The labor, which is often very visible in my work, is often a way for me to simultaneously understand a thing or a moment and create new meaning from it. Like scratching away the surface to find what is at the core will render a thing unrecognizable, my work often has that level of examination however what I am left with is not unrecognizable but forever changed by the addition of often-tenuous labor. In the case of interpreting moments, that labor almost always lasts far longer than the original moment. |
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Images copyright © David S. Kessler
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