David Jarred

Above: 3D Drawamalg 5 . cast paper and acrylic paint. David Jarred, 2009.

In an email interview, Daivd Jarred talks about his own work, as well as the work of the artist he is sharing the spotlight with at Thunder-Sky, Inc.'s "Out of Order," opening February 26, 2010, with a reception 6 to 10 pm.

Your paintings and objects are mysterious and yet also uniquely familiar, like a word you've forgotten how to pronouce but is still in your head somewhere. What inspires you to create them? Other artists' works? Artifacts from the real world? Dreams?
Dave: The focus of my work is the expressive ability of form. When I am making the work I suspend my verbal language and work in a visual language with a vocabulary that I take from other man made forms like buildings and everyday objects such as a clock or a radio. I think people recognize this vocabulary when they see my work, but they are not used to seeing it jumbled up so it catches them off guard. One inspiration for this is classical music, I want to create a visual language that is as abstractly expressive as those used by music composers.

How do you choose the materials you use?
Dave: This is a good question, Since I am interested in form the materials are really secondary to the object. The sculptures could easily be bronze or wood and the paintings could be oil or even etchings. The sculptures are made out of my junk mail which I recycle into paper and press into plaster molds. This process can be labor intensive but I enjoy making paper and it makes me laugh when the unpainted sculptures have interest rates and other classic junk mail phrases on them. Sometimes I regret having to paint over them because the paper is so interesting, but I think it would add unintended content if I did not paint them. The paintings are gouache (acrylic watercolor) and acrylic paint on paper. I think the main reason I have chosen these materials is because I enjoy working with them on a tactile level and I think that it is important to enjoy yourself while you make work. I am also always trying to find ways to reduce my environmental impact so I try to avoid resins, mineral spirits and industrial processes.


You have titled your pieces either a made-up or obscure name (Drawamalgs), and I wonder why, and how do you think this obscure language adds to the experience of viewing and understanding your work? Dave: As silly as it sounds I was writing a statement and I misspelled Drawings as Drawmogs. I looked at the typo for a while and decided it captured something true about the work. I think it plays with the idea of distorting verbal language to become abstractly expressive much as my artwork does with visual language. I later changed it to Drawamalgs (Drawing Amalgamations) so it would make more sense. In Retrospect I kind of wish I had stuck with Drawmogs, but Drawamalgs is easier to explain to people.


What do you think of the work of Kevin White, your partner in the show?
Dave: I feel an affinity towards Kevin’s work, I think it was really a deft move to pair us together. I feel that Kevin really responds to what ever he is painting on in an intuitive way that shows a natural aesthetic sophistication. Kevin is really expressing his own visual language, and in a lot of ways he is much more adept at visual language than I am. It has also been fun working in Thunder-sky inc.’s studio with him. I have begun to see a lot of similarities in the ways that we approach art making. Kevin draws with a cerebral reaction that is very quick and decisive this pretty much how I feel when I draw. I can also appreciate his enjoyment of materials, especially paint.

Anything else?
Dave: Anyone who is really interested in the here and now of art should come check out Thunder-Sky Inc. it is a really interesting place and it will challenge your ideas about art-making and what art is.