Sculpture Garden Current Exhibit

David Landis’ figurative body of work offers a compelling view of dreamlike and fragmented animal imagery, while his outdoor sculptures are comprised of large-scale stainless steel representational and abstract pieces with nature-based themes. His work is influenced greatly by animal, botanical and natural forces such as wind, currents, and rays of light. Landis finds these nature-based themes visually seductive and loaded with history, diversity, lore and symbolism. In addition, the fleeting quality and constant flux of seasonal changes create an intriguing dialogue when the subjects are preserved in the permanence of metal. The mirror polish of the stainless is highly interactive in that the colors reflected are constantly changing, and viewers investigating the work become part of the piece as their reflections change and vary while passing the work. Clouds, sky, time of day, seasonal changes, and faces are driving forces in the experience.

Mr. Whiting is a self taught artist who has been drawing and carving wood since his childhood. In addition he uses hammered and welded techniques.  

In 1990 I began using steel and techniques I had learned in the oil fields of the Gulf of Mexico. Those techniques I have found to be unique to my process.  Strongly influenced by classical forms, I have begun to recognize the validity of my own subconscious dialogue as an important source for my work.  This fusion results in classicism with contemporary execution.  The creation of my images is influenced by many factors: religion, ancient cultures, cinema, other artists, etc. The images are combined and mutated and reborn with no regard to logic or their cultural origins. I have never let an idea die, constantly going back over the sketchbooks and reviving older pieces.  It’s a contradiction but the more I change, the more connected I become to my past. And of course the overall connective tissue to my work is the work (carved steel, my unique contribution to sculpture).

Click here to enjoy the Bluff View Art District's permanent sculpture collection.