David Pratt
I started creating art when I was a kid, and I continue to go through phases of creation with wild abandon followed by periods of organizing what has newly arrived. All of my art is part of an ongoing and on-growing whole, but each phase may appear distinct and different from others. Most often, I make visual art with photography, painting, collage, drawing and digital art - but I sometimes pick up bits of wood and begin to play or find a random object in a thrift store that invites me to alter it.
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In recent years, I've become intrigued with layering my photographs into collages, weaving patterns and seeing relationships from the minuscule details to the larger whole. The Illuminated Codex of The Sacred Valley is one example of this approach, and I intend to keep working with this for quite a while. I have a portfolio of about 90,000 photographs that I draw from, most of them nature-based. Sometimes these are pictures I took in my own garden and other times brick-work on a side street alley in Nazareth, Israel or a close-up of a roadside poppy that I met on a cliff above the Pacific ocean.
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Sometimes I celebrate the spark I experience when I introduce digital work to earthy, natural pigments like clay paint and India ink. Modern meets ancient. I use my photography, which I sometimes digitally alter and print and then paint and add ink. Sometimes I repeat this process many times. This particular style of digital art and photography fusion I'm developing sometimes feels like a new-to-me variation of frottage, the technique of making rubbings with charcoal, chalk, etc... over textured surfaces. This creates "random" textures and patterns. These draw me into a relationship of unexpectedness, surprise and new discoveries that I sometimes liken to work with Rorschach ink blots or the play of cloud-watching. I aim to preserve not knowing in the dynamic towards knowing, obscurity and vagueness in the alive dance towards defining recognizable forms - faces, birds, houses... My final pieces end up laden with images that are often not immediately evident. And sometimes I just paint!
I am an ongoing student of natural building, using clay plasters, strawbale and cob to sculpt and build structures. I am fascinated to see how to bring materials from these often ancient and functional building techniques into conversation with a laptop, camera, phone and me. I am enlivened by the truth that I can come to the present moment in any activity and discover that my physical body, mind and emotions are a part of the world, and who I think I am is only a part of the bigger picture. Art is part of my wish for Self-Understanding, which has been a meditation practice that began in childhood and becoming a student of Breema: The Art of Being Present in 2001.
In recent years, I've had 3 solo shows, two at Yoga Central in Canton, Ohio - an artcentric studio aimed at nurturing people from the roots up. Another solo show was at Wild Goose Creative, a gallery in Columbus, Ohio that actively lives its mission to build creative community year-round. Since the beginning of 2023 I've also exhibited and sold work at The Screw Factory Artist Lofts in Lakewood, Ohio. In 2022, I opened a small gallery in our retreat center (www.truenatureretreat.com) & named that space "Green Tiger." My work is in private collections throughout the U.S. and has just recently begun to find its way to other countries too. See my Upcoming Shows page to find out where you can currently see my work.
A note on reproductions: I've searched out the highest quality printing I can find. The archival prints you can buy here are the absolute best for depth of color, detail and longevity. Paired with texturally-rich papers, this combination creates vivid colors and extremely high lightfastness. The process produces giclee and photo prints that will last up to 200 years for color and 400 years for black-and-white. I’m especially fond of using sturdy watercolor papers and canvas for prints of art. https://www.dxprattartist.com
