About the Artist...
D. J. Kava has been an Artist almost 25 years. In his words he replies, "First I was a farm boy, then a carpenter working for my barn building father, then overlapping careers as a weatherman, automotive historian and Artist. It all has echoes in my art." For the last seven years he's been a full time Artist and Historian.
Living in Beaumont, Texas, USA he enjoys working in a variety of mediums such as Enameled Metals, Clay and Metal Sculptures, Jewelry and Photography.
He is also a collector of "Found Object" material, various odd ball pieces found in nature, culture and often junk. He studies it, considers its' form, then conjures up what he calls an Aberrant Thought.
Art can be found in almost anything; anywhere. Surely you have pondered the shapes and potential usage of an item before tossing it into the trash!
If you ask, "I had a girlfriend that liked to flea market and bought more bargains than current space provides! I was a junk hound years before her and have an attic filled with new Hudson car parts found in the 1970's. Other stuff sort of magically appears and gets distributed to others who will use it. Ever so often something neat gets transformed into sculpture."
Kava groups much of his work in flexible series admitting sometimes to an internal debate on where things should go.
For example, 46 of the 70 numbered Medallion Series are attached to a 16 foot pine 2" x 4" hanging at the local Arts Council office, converting jewelry to sculpture. Also he views female shaped ladders as part of a vague Minimalist Surrealism series.
He is also a vintage car enthusiast and writer, publishing the column Ninety Years Ago for the national Hudson-Essex-Terraplane Car Club chronicling the personalities and corporate startup process for 3,500 world wide members. Hudson seekers can find more information at:
http://communities.msn.com/HudsonEssexTerraplaneBulletinBoard.
We have displayed things pretty much as they were grouped by the Artist and asked for a first person description. Mr. Kava hopes you enjoy looking at the pieces he has designed. If you would like to contact him with questions or concerning the purchase of item(s), you will find his link below.
About the Art...
WINDOW SILL SERIES
I stumbled on to 3" x 4" pieces of isinglass in a surplus catalog. It's a mica composite that has few visible uses today except for windows on the retro wood stoves. They could be cleaved thin enough to transmit light, reflecting the outside color, dragging it inside.
Soon it occurred to me that a small block of wood with a groove would accept the isinglass. Some are stages to present small sculpture, others an organic whole, and others still to present fashion jewelry pins as artwork when not in use.
This series has only common material and size to unite itself. Pretty neat I think.
ENAMEL ON COPPER
Enamel; powdered glass baked on metal, has been known for 3,000 years! The earliest examples were found on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. It took nearly a thousand years for the art form to become widespread, reaching its peak during the Middle Ages. By then, all the basic techniques were mastered and demonstrated with amazing artistic technical skill.
Although never without a core of practitioners throughout the ages, it waxed and waned in fashion. In our era, enameling gained hobby status during the 1960's hippy era until increased health awareness of leaded chemicals once again dropped enamel's popularity. I take the modernist approach to this ancient art.
Long ago the abstract impressionists taught that 'color', not 'lines', define an image while the surrealists instruct that 'lines' don't mean what they seem. Escher will drive you nuts with perspective, in a minor way I try the same with many of 4" diameter Southwest Series.
Why Ladders?...Asked further about the ladder he replies:
Knowing that I wasn't finished with the Ladder symbol; I did a little homework into the meaning of ladders. Paraphrasing
Chirot's Dictionary of Symbolism:"Ladders or 'steps' are common in iconography all over the world and embraces the following essential ideas: ascension, gradation, and communication between different vertical levels. In various cultures, the number of the steps are significant of different levels of ascension. There are also parallel images in primitive cultures such as a rope, a stake, a tree or a mountain (symbolizing the world axis) or architectural structures such as the Egyptian Pyramids or Mesopotamian ziggurats. These 'temple mountains' would generally signify that the entire cosmos is the path of ascension towards the spirit."
The coolest guys were the Egyptians. Their nine step symbolism inferred an invisible 10th step which represented a major god. Ten in turn represented a positive thing in their numerology representing whole, completeness and other positive attributes.
All in all; I see the 'ladder' symbol as a positive, uplifting experience. Continuing with the Ladder Motif; I did a series of Copper Wire Sculpture toying with various shapes. The female form dominated these. Enjoy!
Clicking on the images below will show details. Duplicate thumbnails are for enhancement.
You can Email D.J.Kava or the webmaster for further information.
