David Midkiff
Sculptor
Biography
David Midkiff was born in the Mississippi River Delta region of northeast Arkansas, where he has lived most of his life. He holds a B.A. from the University of Central Arkansas and M.A. and a Ph.D. degrees from The University of Mississippi.
David has taught art and chaired the Department of Art at Williams College (near Walnut Ridge) since 1987. Earlier he taught art for 12 years in the Hoxie, Arkansas, Public Schools. In 2005, he was awarded the “Arkansas Art Educators Higher Education Art Educators of the Year Award” in recognition of his service in art education. David and his Wife, Sheri, an English professor, live in Portia, Arkansas.
About the Exhibit
“Using the fluid, dynamic medium of clay and the interaction between clay, fire and glaze, my goal
is to create forms with both artistic and functional value. I am particularly interested in the formal aspects of creation — in making each piece work aesthetically. Balance, gesture and rhythm all must function within the structure of the work.”
Gallery Representation
David’s work has been shown in competitive and invitational exhibitions in Arkansas, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New York,
Tennessee and Washington, D.C. In addition to Componere Gallery, David’s work can be seen in many Private and corporate collections in the United States and abroad.
Artist’s Statement
“A sacred grove is a woodlet that holds important religious significance to a specific group of people. It is frequently a scene of ritual, rife with mystical, and often dangerous, elements. Throughout history, sacred groves exist among diverse cultures, traditions, and geographic regions.
My Sacred Grove is not a grove in the conventional sense, and it certainly does not involve ritual-mystical, dangerous, or otherwise. Rather, it is a collection of vases: hand-built clay forms fired in the traditional Japanese raku technique. The vases are tree inspired in shape, and, therefore, as a group, they have become a grove. There is a certain sacredness, a venerability about them because of the highly personal symbols that embellish the vases’ surfaces, symbols which attest to feelings, musings, things questioned, beliefs held, truisms, memories commiseration, and exultation.”
David Midkiff
Sculptor
Biography
David Midkiff was born in the Mississippi River Delta region of northeast Arkansas, where he has lived most of his life. He holds a B.A. from the University of Central Arkansas and M.A. and a Ph.D. degrees from The University of Mississippi.
David has taught art and chaired the Department of Art at Williams College (near Walnut Ridge) since 1987. Earlier he taught art for 12 years in the Hoxie, Arkansas, Public Schools. In 2005, he was awarded the “Arkansas Art Educators Higher Education Art Educators of the Year Award” in recognition of his service in art education. David and his Wife, Sheri, an English professor, live in Portia, Arkansas.
About the Exhibit
“Using the fluid, dynamic medium of clay and the interaction between clay, fire and glaze, my goal
is to create forms with both artistic and functional value. I am particularly interested in the formal aspects of creation — in making each piece work aesthetically. Balance, gesture and rhythm all must function within the structure of the work.”
Gallery Representation
David’s work has been shown in competitive and invitational exhibitions in Arkansas, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New York,
Tennessee and Washington, D.C. In addition to Componere Gallery, David’s work can be seen in many Private and corporate collections in the United States and abroad.
Artist’s Statement
“A sacred grove is a woodlet that holds important religious significance to a specific group of people. It is frequently a scene of ritual, rife with mystical, and often dangerous, elements. Throughout history, sacred groves exist among diverse cultures, traditions, and geographic regions.
My Sacred Grove is not a grove in the conventional sense, and it certainly does not involve ritual-mystical, dangerous, or otherwise. Rather, it is a collection of vases: hand-built clay forms fired in the traditional Japanese raku technique. The vases are tree inspired in shape, and, therefore, as a group, they have become a grove. There is a certain sacredness, a venerability about them because of the highly personal symbols that embellish the vases’ surfaces, symbols which attest to feelings, musings, things questioned, beliefs held, truisms, memories commiseration, and exultation.”
David Midkiff
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