Mike Davis Sculpture

A student of stone travels to a sunburned country | Five Questions with Mike Davis, Fayetteville stone sculptor

Mike Davis sculpts stone, single pieces with features delicate like a doll house. It's an exercise in patience and persistence that has paid off for Mike. He was recently named the only American to show his work at Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize in Australia.

Next month, he and his wife, Sonia Davis Gutierrez of the New Design School, will travel Down Under to watch as Mike's piece Double Negative competes among the best. I met Sonia and Mike through Fayetteville's Creative Economy Action Group and I'm excited to see him make the trip to represent Fayetteville, Arkansas and the U.S. in the competition.

He was nice enough to answer a few questions for Ozarks Unbound about his artistic process and the Art Everywhere project he hopes to bring to storefronts throughout the city.

How did you decide to become a stone sculptor. Was it something suggested in Career Orientations in junior high?

No, I got a D in junior high art, but invited my art teacher to my BA show. I took a drawing class in college and fell in love then I took some more art classes and fell in love with each except painting.
I took a sculpture class after seeing someone cast aluminum. They shut down the foundry the sculpture professor made due to safety concerns. I decided to carve some stone while I waited for the new furnace. The year after I graduated the new foundry came online. Stone sculpture has taught me to not worry about the past but to learn from it, to use it.

How do you start a sculpture? How do you finish?

Sometimes I start by sledge hammering a large block in to more interesting fragments, other times with the piece as it is.
Sometimes I look at a piece until I see what to do, other times I have something I want to try and look for a rock that will do it.
Finishing ... is just knowing when to stop.

You're headed to Australia as the only American up for the Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize. How did that happen?

Online is one of the best ways to find shows outside of your circles. I had found the Woollahara show online and it seemed to be a perfict match. It was established, this is the 10th annual; prominent jurors, connections to Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Tate in London, and my work seemed to me to fit in well with the previous winners.
So I created a piece over the next 6 months, took some pictures and emailed them, and waited.
I and 43 others were chosen over 556 entrants from 14 countries.

You had a Send Us To Sydney party this weekend? How goes the fundraising and how could I donate if I was so inclined?

It went well, I have not had this many of my works together in one place in a couple of years.
I enjoyed talking about the progression of my body of work. I am overwhelmed by the generosity of my friends.
Donations are accepted via pay pal http://davisgutierrez.com/weblog/. This is also where I will be posting throughout my trip.
If you are interested in acquiring some of my work you can see available pieces at http://davisgutierrez.com/ and then contact me. 479-799-0547

What is the Art Everywhere project?

Art Everywhere is a collaboration between real estate owners and artists.
Since the recession has left us with many empty storefronts we have decided to fill them with art installations. The model we are following is the San Francisco store front arts program http://www.sfartscommission.org/CAE/category/art-in-storefronts/ . It is an idea that has caught on in Europe and major cities around the U.S.

The project will display Fayetteville artist's work where people are. Exposing and educating where otherwise there would be an empty storefront. The pilot program will kick off this fall with one storefront in the Northwest Arkansas mall, and one in downtown Fayetteville.