David Carmichael Stone Sculpture
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Artist Statement

I am a direct stone sculptor.  I embrace the challenge of working with this difficult and ancient medium, this repository of earth's most powerful formative forces.  I have no typical approach to the stone except to discover the immanent "spirit" within it and to give it form through the language of line, volume and space.  I strive to evoke subtle emotion and a glimpse of the ineffable, the mystery.

My process begins with a period of weeks to months of living with the raw stone.  I sometimes make several drawings to clarify a concept and find three dimensional unity.  At some point, the stone "reveals" itself to me, sometimes bit by arduous bit, and the journey begins.  When working conceptually, the process is to discover and free the form that best expresses that concept.  At other times, my method is more of an emotive transformation from within to without as an actor might grow into a character.

I enjoy living with my art for awhile; experiencing the interplay of changing light and shadow on the piece; discovery.  I see my sculptures as things of casual contemplation and quiet revelation in an often tumultuous and clamorous world. 

I am currently working on a series that is constructionist and architectonic and entirely conceptual.  Well, almost.

 
 
CONTINUUM (CLOSE UP)
CONTINUUM
Powerful, graceful, feminime form, emergent
THE CATERPILLAR'S DREAM
SLUMBER
SLUMBER
Gentle, delicate, sweeping lines, the cradle endlessly rocking...
 
 
 
THE SOURCE
THE SOURCE
BIRTH OF VENUS
BIRTH OF VENUS
The goddess born of seafoam and wind. The embodiment of the feminine mystery.
WINDBLOWN HEART
WINDBLOWN HEART
With love, at some time, everyone feels the wind blow...
 
 
 
PASADOBLE view 2
PASA DOBLE
A dance of anima and animus, earth and moon. The ancient power of sex. Ebb and flow. Stillness. A touch.
DANCING IN THE DARK
DANCING IN THE DARK
No words are needed in the night. Nearness, breath against skin, hands, slow moving shadows.
SHAPE SHIFTER
SHAPE SHIFTER
It is the essential nature of this stone. The vital impulse seeking its form through all forms.
 
 
 
ELEMENTAL 1 front view
ELEMENTAL 1
The vital force that flows through all things gathers itself in stone mountain water things of the air.
ELEMENTAL 2  front view
ELEMENTAL 2
anima animus spirit inherent in nature cellular memories
ARTIFACT
ARTIFACT
energy, bound and unbound, order and chaos, freedom and bondage
 
 
 
LIFE FORCE
LIFE FORCE
The force that through the green fuse drives the flower...
MESSENGER
MESSENGER
INCONSTANT MOON view 4
INCONSTANT MOON
The moon, ever changing, is always the same like the flow of time.
 
 
 
SANCTUARY
SANCTUARY
NOCTURNE, front view
NOCTURNE
SEVITES  second view
SEVITES
Before the sacred, separate yet one, receiving and offering.
 
 
 
ICTHYS 1
ICTHYS
Archaic fish forms, primal ancient citizens
BRINGER OF LIGHT
BRINGER OF LIGHT
Illumination and spirit are immanent.
HAUNTED HEART
HAUNTED HEART
 

 

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