1975 Born; Guelph, Ontario
1999 Interpretive Illustration Diploma; Sheridan College
Awards
2010
2008 First place; "Artsinform" juried show; Library of the University of Guelph
"Ellen Langlands Memorial Award" (2nd place); "Insights” Juried show
2007 3rd Place; Shirley Dilworth Jaychuck Painting Competition
2004 Grant recipient; The Sheila Hugh Mackay Foundation
1999 Interpretive Illustration Diploma; Sheridan College
Awards
2010
2008 First place; "Artsinform" juried show; Library of the University of Guelph
"Ellen Langlands Memorial Award" (2nd place); "Insights” Juried show
2007 3rd Place; Shirley Dilworth Jaychuck Painting Competition
2004 Grant recipient; The Sheila Hugh Mackay Foundation
It is a symptomatic trend in the contemporary art world; a large number of artists are in one way or another, illustrating the connection between humankind and Nature. As this connection becomes less evident over the years, it is tempting to regard this as a kind of separation anxiety.
My own work is no exception as there is no dilemma that bears more urgency than this. I prefer to convey this connection through the suggestion of stories and ideas, and leave it to the viewer to decipher what they might be. If the artist says too much, or if the title of the painting is too literal, then the opportunity for consideration is robbed from the prospective audience. While I regard communication as a vital artistic ingredient, we can take comfort in the fact that there are no wrong translations from the language of art.
It is my intention to present the mysterious in the everyday; the juxtapositions and strange relationships between the realms of pattern and chaos. I also have a penchant for portraying the natural world as a dangerous place, since the possibility of danger makes the source more real and tangible to us.
And this is why most artists are artists: we react to our environment and to our relationship with it. Oliver Sacks said it best; "One might say that science itself and civilization and art, are all about different orderings of the world – to contain it, and to make it in some sense intelligible, communicable. And bearable.”
David Caesar
Guelph, 2009
My own work is no exception as there is no dilemma that bears more urgency than this. I prefer to convey this connection through the suggestion of stories and ideas, and leave it to the viewer to decipher what they might be. If the artist says too much, or if the title of the painting is too literal, then the opportunity for consideration is robbed from the prospective audience. While I regard communication as a vital artistic ingredient, we can take comfort in the fact that there are no wrong translations from the language of art.
It is my intention to present the mysterious in the everyday; the juxtapositions and strange relationships between the realms of pattern and chaos. I also have a penchant for portraying the natural world as a dangerous place, since the possibility of danger makes the source more real and tangible to us.
And this is why most artists are artists: we react to our environment and to our relationship with it. Oliver Sacks said it best; "One might say that science itself and civilization and art, are all about different orderings of the world – to contain it, and to make it in some sense intelligible, communicable. And bearable.”
David Caesar
Guelph, 2009
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