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Davy, Stephen
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See my work
2028 S. Canalport
Contact the artist
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ARTIST BIO
Born in Evanston, IL and raised in Chicagoâ€â"¢s north suburbs, began my passion for building at New Trier High school by gaining experience in metal fabrication thru practicing sculpture. After high school, I traveled to Minneapolis, MN where I earned a BFA with a focus in sculpture. Following graduation, I spent two years of independent study in a studio that I established in NE Minneapolis. During this time I worked various fabrication jobs including assisting artist Roxy Paine. While working for Roxy, I helped construct two 45 foot stainless steel sculptures in Queens, New York. Shortly after this experience, I was hired as the manager by Franconia Sculpture Park in Shafer, MN. While working at Franconia, I decided to attend graduate school at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, MD. While at MICA, I studied sculpture in The Rinehart School of Sculpture. During my studies I worked for various artists, fabricators, galleries and college professors as well as managing MICAâ€â"¢s graduate fabrication shop.
Residing in Chicago, I have worked at SVI Themed Construction for the past year, currently in the role as Head of Sculpture. In my free time, I co-run a mobile exhibition space from a converted moving truck. My vast interest for all artistic endeavors is a primary focus, be it design, sculpture or otherwise. |
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STATEMENT
Two hallmarks that distinguish humankind from the rest of the animal kingdom remain the ability to make tools and the inclination to reflect on experiences. Too often, however, fast paced life styles with rat race schedules and contrived social roles propel individuals unconsciously through the day, eroding the facility for reflection. As a result, modern men and women seem at times to have lost the capacity for focusing within themselves. "The meter is running," bottom line mentality permeates Western culture and devalues talking about, and working with unpleasant emotional states. This significant disconnect interferes with opportunities for genuine encounters with others. In place of genuine selves, contemporary men and women tend to assemble a faux self crafted from fashion and powered by quick fix pharmaceutical remedies that fuel a red-hot consumerism. This series of works attempts to focus attention on arresting the temptation to ignore and deny uncomfortable feeling states and at the same time promote discussion in situations that would ordinarily be kept at a superficial level. These crafted wearable sculptures make it difficult to ignore the anxiety generated within the wearer and within the observer. The resulting Edward Scissorhands-type body in the midst of a group also provokes conversation with people encountered in the environment. A more interesting and more genuine dialogue happens, catapulting the experience out of the ordinary space and time of a typical day. This anti-fashion offers an opportunity for empathy, replacing predictable social interchange.
Each device evolved around a specific source of angst, in which an individual remains trapped by a place, time and internal state that is uncomfortable. Depression, social anxiety, feelings of isolation, and aggression plague every life. Unlike Eastern Buddhist Thought that begins with the premise that "life is suffering," Western contemporary culture seeks to push away pain so these devices go against the grain. By slowing down perception and contemplating the pain, a small positive adjustment is accomplished. |
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| Click thumbnails to enlarge. |
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