Local sculptor recognized at Artemisia Foundation – Asheville Made
Multidisciplinary artist David Sheldon of Asheville grew up on the outskirts of Washington, DC and made many visits to the Smithsonian’s Freer Gallery of Art. That’s where he first encountered the fiercely powerful “Guardians of Eternity” — a pair of 7-foot-tall wooden sculptures that originally flanked the entrance to a 12th-century Buddhist temple in Japan. So, when he was recently invited to create sculptures for the Artemisia Foundation’s new gallery building in Bisbee, Arizona, the “Guardians of Eternity” immediately came to mind.
“I love the concept of having to confront one’s own fears before entering a sacred place,” explains Sheldon. “The guardians symbolize this to me, and I thought that when working with the concept of two sentinels, ‘standing guard’ in front of an ‘Art Temple’, visitors can – and should – challenge their perceptions and ideas about not only the world, but themselves as well.
“My work in sculpture has also always had a cosmological component, and this was a chance to process it in a figurative approach.”
Sheldon’s guards are each 9-and-a-half feet tall and made of spiral, angular stainless steel that rises from wooden plinths. While doing preliminary sketches, Sheldon says a concept emerged of pieces that would convey both a sense of protection of the building and a welcome of visitors into the gallery. The Artemizia Foundation displays an unusual, world-class collection of contemporary paintings and sculptures as well as exhibitions of street art and graffiti – including works by Warhol, Picasso, Willem de Kooning, Barbara Kruger, Jeff Koons and Banksy.
Sheldon’s works in metal (including his local “Mars Cutter” sculpture at the Madison County Manufacturing Art Park in Mars Hill) can be found in public and private collections throughout the United States and internationally.
“I like to use my vision as an artist to contribute something beautiful and stimulating to a community in the public realm,” adds Sheldon. He has now lived in Western North Carolina for many years, and says that his work draws inspiration from “the power and majesty of the mountains, the star-filled sky at night, and a feeling that one or otherwise connected with this great, mysterious universe in which we live.”
David Sheldon, Asheville, sheldonstudioworks.comon Instagram @dqsheldon (see also artemiziafoundation.org).
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