Christopher Davison

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/monsieurdavison/

Website: https://christopherdavison.com/

Bio: "Christopher Davison earned his MFA from Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia. After spending much of the past two decades in Philadelphia and New York, he now lives and teaches in the San Francisco Bay Area. His work has been exhibited at numerous galleries and museums across the United States and Europe, including Nicelle Beauchene Gallery in New York, Mark Moore Gallery in Los Angeles, and V1 Gallery in Copenhagen. As drawing is very near and dear to his professional practice as an artist, it is one of his favorite subject to teach and share his enthusiasm for. Over the course of his 15-year teaching career, he has taught a wide range of courses, including drawing, painting, printmaking, and design, at institutions such as Tyler School of Art, Moore College of Art and Design, Drexel University, and the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. He has also served as a visiting artist at Columbia University School of the Arts, University of the Arts, and California College of the Arts. His work can be seen on his website at https://christopherdavison.com/ and on instagram at https://www.instagram.com/monsieurdavison/"

Statement: The visual language of my work is influenced by early 20th Century Art & Illustration, Medieval European Art, Indian and Persian Miniatures, and in general, the Decorative Arts of the Ancient World including Greek Vase Painting, Etruscan Tomb Painting, and Egyptian Hieroglyphics. The specific content of my paintings and drawings is derived from an intuitive, process-based approach, where signs and symbols slowly emerge out of an initial burst of chaotic mark-making. It is only through making the work that it becomes known. Trusting the mystery of the creative act itself overlaps with my interest in mysticism and mystical states of consciousness. In this way, the act of making art shares much with the path of traditional Yoga in the East. It is through the pure act of creation that we “yoke” ourselves to a higher consciousness and experience something beyond ourselves. The writings of Ananda Coomaraswamy, Jane Ellen Harrison, Joseph Campbell, William James, Eckhart Tolle, Wassily Kandinsky and others, have played a role in shaping my perspective on the fundamentally spiritual nature of the creative process.