The work of Ron Davis represents a persuasive argument against the linearity of time. Influences drawn from the history of African American cultural production are communicated through the most sophisticated of technological artistic technique. The result is work that reaches both back and forth, draws from the past to illuminate the future and provides an ideal continuum for the age old art of visual storytelling.
Whether drawing or writing, art has been a part of Ron Davis' entire life. He could often be found drawing his own artistic veves in the mud behind his mama's house in Louisville's west end or on the concrete surfaces at his great grandmother's home near Louisville's downtown district. His imagination (as well as his creative pseudonym, Upfromsumdirt) springs from his fascination with earth and nature, as well as the influences of blues, jazz and 70's era funk music. These influences are then channeled thru his creative eye, creating a modern mythology for African American culture. Inspired greatly by the works of Romare Bearden, Ron predominately turns his visions into Digital Collages or new New Media - amalgams of photographs, scanned and hand-drawn elements where graphic design and visual art meet and form a union. continue |
