David Provan
The Inability of the Radius to Know the Circumference
June 18 – October 16, 2016
The Inability of the Radius to Know the Circumference
June 18 – October 16, 2016
The Inability of the Radius to Know the Circumference
2012-15, powder coated steel, 66 x 36 x 21 in.
2012-15, powder coated steel, 66 x 36 x 21 in.
Artist Statement
Through my sculpture I’m trying to make visible & tangible the flow of energy that makes up all entities and events. To this end, I build schematic structures that trace the way elements coalesce into a pattern or identity and then, after a period of time, disperse. They’re the motion of birth and death translated into material form.
Another approach I’ve experimented with is a “collaboration of opposites,” which manifests as a balancing of sculptural elements that resonate with the Taoists’ concept of Yin/Yang or with the Dialectics of Hegel. They define two conflicting elements (rational vs. random, mass vs. void, etc.) that eventually reconcile themselves into a dynamic whole.
About David Provan
After a four-year tour of S.E. Asia with the Navy, David Provan worked as a carpenter in Japan, building and renovating houses by day and tending bar in Yokohama by night. Later, pursuing his long-standing interests in Buddhism and yoga, he travelled throughout India and Nepal, a trip which included a year in the Yang Leshöd Tibetan Monastery near Kathmandu. Returning to the US after a five-year absence he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Art and Architecture from Yale and, two years later, a Master’s Degree from the Royal College of Art. His years in Asia and his interests in art eventually coalesced into a long series of sculptures that embody elements of Asian philosophy, but are grounded in 21st century materials and sensibilities. Provan’s work has been shown in numerous galleries and museums, including Grace Borgenicht Gallery, New York; Mindy Oh Gallery, Chicago; Wenger Gallery, Los Angeles; the Fitchburg Art Museum, MA; and the Seoul Metropolitan Museum of Art, Korea. He received a Pollock/Krasner grant in 1988 and completed several public art projects, including a 200’ installation of kinetic sculptures for the New York City subway, and a design for a series of innovative historical markers for the Municipal Art Society, New York. He currently lives in the Hudson Valley with his wife and twin children.
Artist Statement
Through my sculpture I’m trying to make visible & tangible the flow of energy that makes up all entities and events. To this end, I build schematic structures that trace the way elements coalesce into a pattern or identity and then, after a period of time, disperse. They’re the motion of birth and death translated into material form.
Another approach I’ve experimented with is a “collaboration of opposites,” which manifests as a balancing of sculptural elements that resonate with the Taoists’ concept of Yin/Yang or with the Dialectics of Hegel. They define two conflicting elements (rational vs. random, mass vs. void, etc.) that eventually reconcile themselves into a dynamic whole.
About David Provan
After a four-year tour of S.E. Asia with the Navy, David Provan worked as a carpenter in Japan, building and renovating houses by day and tending bar in Yokohama by night. Later, pursuing his long-standing interests in Buddhism and yoga, he travelled throughout India and Nepal, a trip which included a year in the Yang Leshöd Tibetan Monastery near Kathmandu. Returning to the US after a five-year absence he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Art and Architecture from Yale and, two years later, a Master’s Degree from the Royal College of Art. His years in Asia and his interests in art eventually coalesced into a long series of sculptures that embody elements of Asian philosophy, but are grounded in 21st century materials and sensibilities. Provan’s work has been shown in numerous galleries and museums, including Grace Borgenicht Gallery, New York; Mindy Oh Gallery, Chicago; Wenger Gallery, Los Angeles; the Fitchburg Art Museum, MA; and the Seoul Metropolitan Museum of Art, Korea. He received a Pollock/Krasner grant in 1988 and completed several public art projects, including a 200’ installation of kinetic sculptures for the New York City subway, and a design for a series of innovative historical markers for the Municipal Art Society, New York. He currently lives in the Hudson Valley with his wife and twin children.