David H. Davenport

The language of landscape is always present in my work ranging from small works to large ‘multi-view’ oil paintings. Multiple scenes are investigated in diverse ways, from realism to abstraction juxtaposed on the canvas in a grid-like structure. The palette is influenced by the seasons, muted dark hues speak of an approaching winter and bright contrasting colors inform one of the coming of spring. Each painting is orchestrated to draw the viewer into the scene for closer inspection and discovery. Many of the works suggest contemplative places in undefined locations in the landscape, allowing the viewer to infuse their own memories and interpretations into the paintings. In each of my paintings, I strive to subtly suggest rather than to overtly describe, hoping to leave some mystery in the painting for the viewer; something unresolved that allows the viewer to explore the painting and make discoveries within it. When viewing these works, hopefully ‘you’ will be reminded of similar places, ideas, moods and reflections.

The rural environment of my childhood lives in my memory today. Planted in one place for almost two decades, my coastal farm community gave me a sense of boundless space, the moon’s light on the plowed fields, the tide’s rise and fall. Here I learned a respect for the land in direct service to it with my hands. The seasons were clearly defined and I absorbed the light and breath of their extremes, rhythms of beauty and destruction. Here I developed an inner awareness of one place in time. The light penetrating the dark shadows of old barns remains a mysterious symbol of my past. These clumsy, hand-made structures rode like arks on their sea of land. In them were stored the reaping of human interaction with nature.

Throughout my painting career, I have been probing and searching my subconscious through various mediums and techniques in an attempt to discover content and beauty in a new art form. This time-honored search has been expressed through drawing journals, collages, watercolors, acrylics and oil paintings. Through this media, I have established a visual vocabulary, an inner structure to focus content and meaning in the artwork. I am attempting to symbolize and intersect the archetypal relationship of humankind through a personal process of self-discovery.