By David Marquez 2010.

David Marquez says,  “The objects I create are built from forms that we see everyday, bottles, containers and other mass produced packaging. From these forms I create new forms, re-contextualizing their identity. Playing off the ideas of mass production, cellular growth, biological reproduction and the abstract, the new forms I create build a narrative of our culture today. My work exposes an obscurity of our obsessive nature with objects. Using bronze, steel, iron, ceramics and other mediums, my objective is to solicit an intermission to ponder an unfamiliar familiarity. Using simple images and objects my work engages the thoughts of the viewer delivering unpretentious statements about culture. Utilitarian features play a dominant role in the forms I build. Hypotheses that the viewer might extrude include objects of use and objects of ritual. Both ideas imprinted in our daily lives. Context and image is minimal, stripped down to simple formal choices, allowing a variety of individual speculation yet retaining the integrity of my own ideas.  I want my objects and images, my statements to be direct yet not to the point that they become overwhelmingly dogmatic. It is important for the viewer to be creative in constructing their own stories and opinions from the images and objects I create.  To some degree, I allow the viewer to come to their own conclusions, I ask questions, and make statements, that conjure discussion and reflection.”

David Marquez was born in Louisville Kentucky.   He said he moved around quite often in his youth, including Los Angeles CA, Gainsboro Tn., and in Edmonson County Kentucky.  “If asked where I am from I would answer Edmonson County Kentucky. I lived on Kyrock Road in Sweeden, Kentucky for most of my teenage years. I spent a lot of time playing in the rock quarries on Black Gold Road. The humble surroundings I grew up with there are what shaped most of who I am and how I think. My perspective is quite different from those who never left the area due to living in different parts of the country from time to time. This perspective has strongly influenced how I look at things. A perspective of looking in from out and out from in” stated David.

Mr. Marquez said he enjoys creating objects that are built from found objects that are usually discarded by our mass produced and ever changing culture. He is interested in the relationship his forms have with the objects that they originate from. An example would be things like the plastic packaging that covers a product in a store. These plastic forms are usually just protective coverings that for the most part get the product from point A (warehouse) to B (store) and then, from Point B (store) to C (customer’s home). At this point, the plastic form is usually discarded. He said, “I find these forms interesting, especially when the forms create a volume of space that fit my aesthetic. I look for forms that can be transformed into sculptural objects that sit on the cusp of the traditional to the manufactured and at times deliver an organic quality. Objects such as light bulbs, candleabras, mechanical components, rubber bumpers, ink pen components and even ear plugs and gelatin pills have been used to produce my work.  The final objects will usually take the form of a vessel, containers that appear traditional or lean towards the contemporary. Smaller elements are used to embellish the form. The results of my process usually hide much of the content and context of the original objects I use. Bronze has been my chosen media for the past five years. I enjoy the many processes that are involved with this medium.  My process involves finding forms, mold making, wax work, metal casting and chemical surface treatment. Once I settle on a form to work with. I will make a mold of the form. This may involve one part, two part and some times three part molds. Plaster molds are simple, and work for a majority of the objects I use. But there have been times that rubber molds have had to be used. These molds are used to make wax patterns. These patterns might be used directly or they may be cut and manipulated to bring a form to reality. Once the form is finished in wax, it is prepared for the lost wax process where it is encapsulated in an investment mold. This mold is made up of plaster, sand, silica flour and then mixed with water. Once the material hardens it is ready for the lost wax process. The mold is put in a kiln to burn the wax out, then liquid metal, (bronze, aluminum), is poured in the cavity left by the wax pattern.  The bronze form is removed from the mold, cleaned and prepared for patina. Once the patina is applied the form is coated with a sealer.  I have also poured my forms in cast iron, in which sand resin bond casting is used. At times a metal stand or mounting device is designed and fabricated for presentation. 

     David Marquez said he has a two car garage behind his home that he uses for a studio. He does a lot of his wax production, wood work and some clay work there. He feels fortunate to have a position in Western Kentucky University’s Sculpture department where he teaches 3-D Design and Sculpture courses. His position there grants him work space and equipment that assists in his art making processes.  “I enjoy teaching. Every assignment I give leads to new ideas. From semester to semester there are new minds that develop new ideas that can create a new set of problems. Problem solving is fun, either technical or conceptual. My job is fun. I think the problem solving keeps me sane. The energy of my students and the energy and ideas that I get to share are a valuable asset”, stated David.

  Mr. Marquez works on and off projects all the time. He said, “Of course times when I’m teaching slows my production, yet the summer months allow a good chunk of time to explore, be creative and produce. During the semester I can be found giving demonstrations and sometimes doing the projects along with the students when I am not instructing and guiding them. 

     David has been making work professionally since the nineties. But he said he has always drawn. Even as a teenager one could find him drawing science fiction landscapes, designing machines or just coming up with concepts for electrical devices. As a kid he built go carts and cubby houses from the refuge of his environment. His mediums included logs, sticks and stones from the quarries and the forests of Edmonson County, boards, car and bicycle parts, whatever he could find in the city.  He just liked to make things. “Problem solving is one of the things that drives me. I’m interested in figuring out how things can be manipulated to work or fit with other things or forms. I still have some of the objects I made from my teenage years. Like most artist, I am a habitual pack rat”, stated David.

   David said he believes art is every where. That it is just finding the beauty, discussion, content, context, or just the simpleness or complexities in something. He said he likes discovering new ways to think about the world. David said, “My inspiration comes from my life experiences and my understanding of how human culture is developing. I use forms and objects as a vocabulary that speak about these experiences and ideas that I have come to ponder. My experience is unending. I learn something new everyday and apply it to my work.  I think about my objects, drawings and paintings as visual poetry or literary commentary.  Problem solving is an important part of who I am. I enjoy changing or altering things to gain a new perspective. I like how one idea can lead to many new ideas. Even mistakes can become a new vocabulary if used correctly. I like using the phrase “happy accidents”. This is when something unexpected happens and the results lead to a new idea or a finished piece.     

   Mr. Marquez has a BFA in Graphic design from Western Kentucky University and a MFA from the University of Iowa.

  He just recently had a Solo exhibition at Eastern Kentucky University and has been in several juried exhibitions locally and regionally. 

   There are so many listings for David’s work in the art field that my article will only allow me to show this year.  He exhibited at the 14th Annual Duncan Hines Festival, Art Exhibition. Kentucky Library and Museum, the Fetish, Fred P. Giles Gallery, Eastern Kentucky University, Germinate, Exhibition of Vol State Community College and Western Kentucky University professors and students. Square Gallery. April 11- June 7, Gallatin, Tennessee, Saturday in the Park With Art, Capitol Arts Alliance, Fountain Square, May 29, Bowling Green, Kentucky, 44th Annual National Drawing & Small Sculpture Show. Del Mar College, Dogwood Arts Festival 2010 Regional Fine Arts Exhibit. Downtown Knoxville, Media Mix National Juried Art Exhibition. South Shore Art Center, Celebration of the Arts, Juried Exhibition. Kentucky Library and Museum, the 2010 Biennial Western Kentucky University Faculty Exhibition and Creative Inquiries, 2010 Chautauqua Lecture Series Juried Art Exhibition. Eastern Kentucky University.

   He has also been a Juror this year at the Bowling Green Junior Women’s Club. August 13 – 19, the Ron Koehler. April 9 – May 7, Corpus Christi Texas, Ruth Grover. April 2 – April 30, Knoxville Tennessee, Gretchen Keyworth March 19 – May 2, South Shore Art Center. Cohasset, MA., Nicole Hand. February 28 – April 3, Bowling Green, Kentucky, Tina MaCalment. Jan.16- Feb. 20, Richmond, Kentucky, and Director for Esther E. Randell. Aug. 18 – Sep. 24, Richmond Kentucky.

   He was awarded First Place Professional Sculpture. Sponsored by Drs. Sam and Mary Evans. Chew 3-Way, Celebration of the Arts, Juried Exhibition. Kentucky Library and Museum, Bowling Green, Kentucky 2009. Merit Award. Presented by Bowling Green Woman’s Club. Fetish, All Kentucky Juried Fine Art Exhibition, Capitol Arts. The Houchens Gallery Bowling Green, Kentucky, Merit Award. Presented by World’s Greatest Studio Tour. Vessel, Celebration of the Arts, Juried Exhibition. Kentucky Library and Museum, Bowling Green, Kentucky and in 2008. Honor Award. Vessel, All Kentucky Juried Fine Art Exhibition, Capitol Arts The Houchens Gallery Bowling Green, Kentucky.

   Mr. Marquez Professional Affiliations include from 2008-present the Mid-South Sculpture Alliance, Chattanooga, Tennessee, The League of Sculptors. Student Art organization, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, Kentucky, Faculty Mentor, Founding member.  From 2006-Present.with the Southeastern College Art Conference, Carrboro North Carolina.  From 2003-Present with the College Art Association. New York, New York and from 2001-Present with the International Sculpture Center in Hamilton, New Jersey.

   David said he would like to build some larger public art pieces and that he has some Marquette’s that are in development that would be posed for this.

   You can view David’s works on his website at: www.marquezart.com or email him at: davidleolie@marquezart.com

About the author: Ronnie Jaggers is a seasoned sculptor, fine artist and master crafter. Her work can be seen on ChiseledFeaturesStudio.webs.com. She reminds other artists “Trust the beauty of your art, for if you see the beauty, others will too.” To be considered for the featured artist call Ronnie at 791-3505 or email ChiseledFeaturesStudio@yahoo.com