David Walters at work in the studio.
GLASS: What are you working on?
David Walters: I’ve recently completed a body of work for a show I’m having at the Traver Gallery in Seattle incorporating a couple of new series for me. One is a series of cars that I’m dubbing “Toys of Desire.” They are a composite of the notion of cause and effect. The tops of the cars illustrate the desire and the bottoms, which are painted as well, reflect the consequences of that desire being realized. Each car has a leash or tether accompanied by a glass icon of the desire, which serves as a pull or handle to power the vehicle as a proverbial carrot at the end of the stick. The cars are titled Alice in Blunderlands Tea Party Cruiser, The Evergreen Express to Grandma’s House, and The Pleasure Island Flyer. All cars sit on a water-jet cut mirror in the silhouette shape of the birds-eye view of the car (as in a reflective puddle) so that the viewer can see the imagery on the bottom of the vehicle.
David Walters, Pleasure Island Flyer, 2011. Blown and painted glass with steel, rubber cord, and mirror. H 11, W 20 1/2, D 8 1/4 in. photo: russell johnson
Another series I’ve been working on involves four water-jet cut and fused glass panels, which are wall mounted and also painted. This series depicts the seasons and parallels our relationship to the natural world and the cycles of our own life and how that pertains to nature. I’m also interested in the illusion of control we try to maintain over them. I’ve recently completed a series of four vitreographic prints to accompany the glasswork that reflect different notions of expectation and how expectation often leads to disillusionment, detachment, and disappointment. There is one kinetic piece in the show and it spins to give the illusion of a blinking eye and is titled Blink in fact.
As in the past, my work still leans heavily on references from familiar stories and fairytales, and some of those examples are present in this show, too. But the work now injects more contemporary and current events in the telling to give them a more specific relevance while still trying to capture a sense of timelessness. The point of the work, which I hope comes across, is that there is a price for all the choices in our lives. The culture of convenience we consign ourselves to often bring a greater cost than we allow ourselves to believe. It’s an effort to bring some consideration of that for myself as well. I think of my work as an effort to reevaluate or question the things I believe, or struggle with philosophically and in so doing relate to the viewer that struggle in myself and maybe in them as well, or at least stir some sense for the wonder of it all.
David Walters, Blink, 2011. Blown glass, vitreous enamel and steel. H 22, W 13 1/2, D 10 1/2. photo: russell johnson
GLASS: What artwork have you seen recently that inspired you?
David: I’m inspired by many different artists and could give fine examples of those, but what I find most inspiring is the human story. The things we intend to do seem to serve as the footprints in the journey toward the larger idea, which is to find meaning in our lives. The work we choose to do then more or less becomes a detail, though an important one, so long as the intention that gives it wings has integrity. I believe that’s where the soul of a thing stirs. I see fascinating examples of it every day. In art, music, science and people who display great selflessness. It is the intention of things that has worth and inspires.
While I was preparing for the show something interesting occurred. As a sort of therapeutic break from all of the painting and thinking about everything I took regular breaks to play guitar and switch gears a little. In the process, and over the course of that time, I found my playing was getting exponentially better and the rhythm and pattern of my process in the studio started to trickle over into my playing and a sort of improvisational intuitiveness began to emerge very unexpectedly. This observation goes to the point that most fascinates me and that is the way our minds process and distills information. I’ve noticed the more I let go of the moment the more effective I become. Finding a relaxed state where the less you think about a thing and what you’re trying to accomplish the more you can tap into a sort of subconscious intuitive part of your brain. That part of the brain that already knows what it’s doing if you can free yourself enough to allow it to take over. It’s not easy and takes a different level of focus and that is the place I’ve been trying to revisit as much as possible.
David Walters, The Proposal, 2011. Vitreographic print. H 34 1/4, W 26 3/4 in. photo: russell johnson
Being in my forties now, like most people, I’ve been asking myself what does it mean to live a complete and full life and what is the true cost of doing so, versus the cost of not doing so. When I look for inspiration in this regard I find it easiest to look to people who are close to me and Lino jumps to the front of the my mind as a perfect example of a life being lived fully. He’s still peaking as an artist late into his seventies with out any sign of that changing. It is the constant need to know and evolve that keeps him relevant and exciting to watch and an approach to life I think has a sense of nobility and is worth recognizing.
We tend to look outside of ourselves to fill our half empty cup as it were, (sorry to coin a phrase) ... It seems to me that cup can really only be filled from within our own understanding of what it is we value and give prominence too, but also how and why that relates to the world we live in and finally how we execute the practice of that understanding. These are the things that inspire me lately.
GLASS: Where is it possible to see your work on exhibit?
David: I’m having a show right now along side Dick Weiss at the Traver Gallery in Seattle. The show and is titled “The Other Side of the Looking Glass” and it’s up until October. I’m represented also by the Schantz Gallery in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, and my Website is www.davidwaltersglass.com