Biography   |   Shows, Exhibitions and Awards   |   Men and Machines   |   Route 66: A Painter's Journey

Men and Machines

"Men working on machines such as these mighty steel locomotives–holdovers from the steel and jet ages–are to me a compelling metaphor for the larger issue of concern, the relationship between mankind and technology. This often troubling relationship is the manifestation of our struggle as physical and spiritual creatures, caught between heaven and hell. These images seem to have master-slave implications, and are emblematic of the human condition.

Among my influences are Dorothea Lange’s WPA photographic work and American Regionalism. This series of paintings was derived from black and white photographs that I took of men working in the Livingston Montana Rail Link maintenance and repair shop. They are pictures of contemporary life in America.

I am continually drawn to the juxtaposition of geometric and organic/biomorphic shapes; architectural (or mechanical) and human. It is a primary underlying aesthetic motive which, as I review my creative history, has always been present in my work. This aesthetic is communicable between artist and viewer as a shared experience, and when incorporated with the several formal elements of the painter’s pictorial art, conveys the primal intention of these pictures with a certain force. The narrative content of the images cause the viewer to invent stories, or otherwise ascribe meaning to them, and in combination with the formal aesthetic values, enables the paintings to function successfully on several levels.

See David's paintings of men and machines, and the many other subjects in his portfolio >