This piece plays with this possibility in ambiguity by creating a dynamic, ever-changing variety of scale, color, transparency and composition based on the viewer’s orientation, giving each visitor the opportunity to participate in the re-creation of the work from myriad perspectives.

Suspended Disbelief

Furniture expresses power: the seat; at the table; chairman. When seeking to show a change of power, many institutions invite some level of representation “to the table.” Who built the table, who the furniture is designed for, or whether that furniture meets the needs of the moment goes unquestioned. This body of work explores the possibilities of that deeper questioning through the disassembly and remaking of institutional furniture. Breaking it into its constituent parts and examining elements that might otherwise go unseen invites a radical reexamination of the status quo, a direct challenge to self-preserving power.

Discomfiture (ongoing series)

Places are never neutral—they come with tensions of history and presence. This series of works were made living in temporary housing while my home was gutted for mold abatement. The stretcher bars for the canvases were made of wood salvaged from the demolition. Those stretchers both literally and figuratively hold the tension of space.

There's No Place Like No Place Painting Series

These were made living in temporary housing while my home was gutted for mold abatement. They are constructed from off-cuts of wood salvaged from the demolition, turning displacement into a creative force, making from unmaking.

Ends/Means

Objects collected in the one block walk from my apartment to studio capture a fragmentary image, reminiscent of an archaeological dig, perhaps giving insight to what may remain beyond the present epoch. Square canvases, painted with a mulberry-dyed ombre provide context for the surprising and often playful groupings of objects within the piece.

Returning, No Return

These signs are arranged in the shape of a calendar and can be rearranged to reflect the month in which they are being displayed. 

Time is often used as power. Precisely divided time requires constant fear of enforcement in order to maintain meaning. Power co-opts our imaginations to anticipate consequences and change our behaviors. When the threat of enforcement retreats, the tools of power lose their imaginative strength and we can encounter them as the flimsy, curious objects they are.

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David Vosburg