David Altmejd is a Canadian sculptor living and working in New York with a unique artistic style that sometimes goes beyond words. His creativity started at an early age. He recalls drawing a lot as a kid, but he never stopped. So, going to art school became the obvious choice.
“I started art school as a painter, but the program included a mandatory ‘Intro to Sculpture’ class. So that was the first time I made a sculpture. And from that point, it was clear to me that it was the most meaningful thing I could do.”
David prefers to sculpt heads and busts because of the intimacy that develops between himself and the object, and some of his sculptures may seem to take on a surrealist interpretation. “My work usually takes a surrealist form, but that’s not the initial intention. It ends up like that because I let the process be as playful and free as possible,” he explains.
David is inspired by “nature, the uncanny, magic, and things that are unclassifiable.” His go-to tools include a drill, table saw, and Dremel tools. He uses materials like wood, concrete, steel, Plexiglas, hair, quartz, resin, glass, epoxy clay, epoxy gel, acrylic paint, and rhinestones for his sculptures. “Ideas usually come out of working on the previous sculpture, when I get excited about an idea that came about by accident. I start the next sculpture to explore and push this idea,” he says.
Many artists describe their art as a means of expression. David has a different point of view—one that undoubtedly adds to his artistic individualism. “I tend to remove myself from what I do. I like the idea that something happens between the object and the world, and it has nothing to do with me. So, I don’t really see the art as expression. Maybe the expression of something that’s beyond me.”
David is learning to speak differently about his work. “I’ve been on this spiritual path this past year where I’ve felt a huge shift in consciousness. I don’t feel I relate to reality the same way I did before,” he shares. “The work itself will probably not change as a result. The transition is internal not external.” To follow David’s journey, visit his online portfolio at davidaltmejd.com and on Instagram: @daltmejd.
David’s next solo show will be in June 2020 at Xavier Hufkens in Brussels.
