David Ford

In my diverse and dedicated studio practice, I seek to translate my experience in a multicultural world. Through multiple mediums I look for a through-line in prevalent?incongruences or uncomfortable juxtapositions. Often, such incongruences appear in divergent agendas of conceptualism and aesthetics occupying the same 2 or 3D space. Sometimes, I begin with a drawing and build it up to an installation. A performance may be distilled into a painting or sculpture.

As an artist based in the midwest of America, this interface through the arts has been my doorway to otherness. Often the conversation of integration or isolation is an aspect of my work and has been accentuated by my travels to non-Eurocentric locations. Recently, the melding of Islam and Voodoo as I experienced it in the West African country of Benin, has informed my contemporary art vocabulary.

I have found the artist’s role to be a member, not apart. I seek the art from culture rather than the culture from art. My interests seek a bridge of transcendence. I am driven to translate essential questions of my world through alternative realities, to be present and to create from a conscious state. I find access through cultural doorways for transformative thought, be that aesthetic, conceptual, or sensual.




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