Story: Lisa Sollie | Photo: Cody Ingram
An art professor at the University of West Alabama will have 3D sculptures featured in a national juried exhibition.
Nick Davis has three DIY sculpture kits in the “Synthesis: Digital Craft” exhibition, which will be on display at the Floyd Center for the Arts in Virginia this summer. The exhibition spotlights merging digital processes and craft in today’s world.
“The Floyd Center for the Arts show was definitely one I wanted to get into because it explores how craft and technology merge,” noted Davis. “In years past, ‘craft’ was synonymous with homemade, and people equated the artist’s hands making the product. Today, technology plays an integral part in the creative process.”
Drawing inspiration from classic toys like jacks, tinker toys, and even carbon molecules, Davis crafts the pieces for his DIY sculpture kits using Blender, a 3D modeling and animation software program he also utilizes for teaching animation on campus. The completed design is then exported to another program, sliced into thin layers, and sent to a 3D printer for fabrication.
His do-it-yourself kits, known as modular sculptures —a work of art that can be moved, separated, and recombined —are part of a conceptual art project he calls the ‘School of Poetic Living,’ a school of thought designed to encourage creativity and promote imagination. Davis envisions creating individual sculpture kits in various sizes, shapes, and colors, which he could sell commercially, but not before he has produced enough pieces to create one large sculptural installation for his own enjoyment. “A project,” he says, “that won’t happen overnight.”
Davis’s belief that anyone can be an artist, regardless of the medium, makes him a strong proponent for increased participation in art classes at UWA.
“Every student has to select electives, but most don’t realize classes like drawing, painting, ceramics, and even animation are not only available, but they also have no prerequisites,” he noted. “We encourage anyone willing to try new things to register for one.”