Artist Statement:
I work at the interface of chaos and control. I make gardens and landscapes, both real and imaginary. I am a visual artist and a landscape architect.
Making a garden is the process of imposing order onto a seemingly chaotic, incomprehensible natural and social environment. It is this struggle between order and chaos that creates beauty, new ideas, deeper understanding and repose but also discordance, ambiguity, turbulence and ugliness.
My work begins with a study of gardens and landscapes. I revel in the collision of the exuberance and complexity of disorder with the struggle to create structure and comprehension. I am interested in how places are defined through their presence (how they are defined or marked), through narrative (their stories, histories and interpretations) and through context (their fit into the bigger world).
Exhibitions:
2014
Interfacing Chaos and Control, Ryan James Gallery (Kirkland)
Vin Timate at Heathman Hotel, (Kirkland)
2013
Three Vistas, Lynnwood Convention Center
Catching Beauty, City of Shoreline City Hall
Two Gardens, Long term loan, City of Shoreline
Marker, Heart of Phinney Park (Seattle)
2012
Shift, SHIFT Collaborative Studio (Seattle)
Clay Edge, Northwest Woodworkers Gallery
Micro / Macro, SHIFT Collaborative Studio (Seattle)
Marking Place, Mithun Architects(Seattle)
2010
New Additions, Gallery 110 (Seattle)
Bowl of Water, Gallery 110 (Seattle)
Evergreen: A Sense of Place, WA Trade & Convention Center (Seattle)
2008 – 2011
House of Mind, Pat Graney Company, collaborating artist - set and installation design (presented in Seattle, Houston DiverseWorks, John M Kohler Arts Center)
2007
place as art / art as place, solo show, SCC Art Gallery,
Shoreline Community College (Shoreline)
Blackfish Hosts Gallery 110, Blackfish Gallery (Portland)
Woolworth Window Installation, Tacoma Contemporary (Tacoma)
2006
Artist Trust Grant Recipients, Chase Gallery, (Spokane)
Veiled Targets/Buoys/Filled Vessels, solo show, Gallery 110 (Seattle)
2005
Looking Forward, Glancing Back: NW Designer Craftsmen at 50
Bellevue Arts Museum, Contemporary Crafts Museum (Portland),
Whatcom Museum of History and Art (Bellingham)
Fools, Jesters and Clowns, solo show, Gallery 110 (Seattle)
2004
Ceramic Sculpture, solo show, Helen S. Smith Gallery, Green River CC (Auburn)
Ceramic Sculpture, Square Room (Seattle)
2003
Ceramic Sculpture, solo show, Gallery 110 (Seattle)
Group Exhibition: Gallery Artists, Gallery 110 (Seattle)
2002
Evidence of the Body, Allied Arts Center (Richland)
2001
Origins in Clay II, University of Texas San Antonio Art Gallery
Allied Arts Juried Show, Allied Arts Center (Richland)
2000
The Second Annual Open Call, Pound Gallery (Seattle)
Ceramic Sculpture, solo show, Blue Heron Gallery (Vashon)
Ceramic Sculpture, solo show, Oculus Gallery (Seattle)
Northwest International Art Competition, Whatcom Museum (Bellingham)
PUBLICATIONS
2010
Michael Upchurch, Sight, sound and words mix in David Traylor's 'bowl of water' at Seattle's Gallery 110, Seattle Times
Preview Gallery Guide vignette, BOWL OF WATER – SUSAN GANS: IMAGES, KIM SCHNUELLE: WORDS, DAVID TRAYLOR: OBJECTS, STU WITMER: SOUNDS
Brian Miller, bowl of water, Seattle Weekly
2008
Douglas Britt, A House Built on Memories, Houston Chronicle
Michael Upchurch, "House of Mind" evokes childhood wonders, Seattle Times
Gigi Berardi, Review: House of Mind, Dance Magazine
Brendan Kiley, Warehouse of Memory, The Stranger
R. M. Campbell, Installation turns memory inside out, Seattle PI
2007
Rosemary Ponnekanti, Five artworks, five worlds, Tacoma News Tribune
2005 Andrew Engleson, Visual Arts Pick, Seattle Weekly
2004 Lloyd E. Herman, Looking Forward Glancing Back NWDC at 50, University of Washington Press/Whatcom Museum,
2001 Raul Acero, Making Ceramic Sculpture, Lark Books
Sara Kelly, Perfect Collaboration, Tacoma Reporter
