David Downs

Utilizing photographic processes and mixed-media painting, I create a dialogue between order and chaos. This conversation focuses on man and nature’s complex relationship. It reflects on our invasive industrial sprawl and nature’s attempts to consume it and regenerate.

With camera in hand, I embark on urban excavations that lead to withered and corroded human artifacts. Ship graveyards, abandoned factories, and obsolete machinery attract my eye. These abandoned relics of our civilization, overcome by time and the forces of nature, beg my attention. Once captured and exposed, I prepare canvas for the image’s introduction. Compiling primer, paint, and soil, I form layers to mimic the deterioration of the human structure. Alternating between construction and deconstruction, I repeatedly douse the canvas with water, then let it dry to achieve a network of erosion, cracks, and crevasses. The photographic image is transferred to the canvas by means of acrylic polymer medium. To finalize the interaction between these materials I carefully repaint portions of the image in oil or acrylic.

This current process developed from my combined love of photography and painting. I have always been drawn to the clarity and directness of the black and white photograph. The “truth” found within a print is the representation of a finite reality. A photograph however is objective. It only explains the outer half of the story. Through painting I could reveal the inner half. I could express my personal interaction with a subject matter. My work attempts to bring these two devices together in a bold and organic way.