David McCullough American (20th / 21st Century) Mysterious Traveller Series, #73 Quanta, Sudden Samba, 1981 Acrylic mixed media on canvas signed, dated, titled verso. From AskArt: Born in Springfield, MA, David McCullough has made art and music all his life, earning his B.F.A. in painting and printmaking at the Kansas City Art Institute, and an M.F.A. in painting at the California Institute of the Arts. He gained a second M.F.A. in art and technology, at the University of Texas, Dallas, where since 2007 he has been on a Ph.D. track in Art and Technology. He lives with his wife and four sons and works primarily in Dallas, TX, with frequent trips to the Four Corners area and farther reaches such as, recently, Australia and India, courtesy of invitations to be a visiting artist or participate in projects. McCullough has developed his unique and innovative art-making techniques to express his Taoist philosophy, broad musical influences, studies in quantum physics, and experiences in nature. Watercolors, drawings and poetry are made during his visits to sacred sites which will later be woven into what he calls “geomantic order” in his finished art. As McCullough writes, “Utilizing mythology, music, poetry, and color symbolism, my art in all mediums speaks to the issue of a need for a new harmonic balance in our ecological-tech system. These visual tales are enigmatic picture-poems that will always reflect my deep love for the earth and her ever-changing colorful dancing spirit.” In his studio, the artist continues, “The area I work in is a circle in which the canvas is in the middle surrounded by as many as 80 two-gallon plastic pails that each has a pre – mixed color obtained from the natural places I visit. This is the order of the architecture of a 'quantum' movement of color energy. “My preparation includes meditation, prayer, yoga exercises and circular dance movements, and most importantly pre -recorded music from a range of sources and genres (Jazz, soul, hip - hop, international world music, mostly African). The movement of my feet will be critical in terms of body positions that allow for the best approach to the making of a mark whether it is with a brush, trowel or tube of paint. I need to be in a place of balance to generate the proper stroke speed, sense of touch and pressure. “Now I have to do the painting or “the performing” in the space and with the attitude I have prepared. I begin to work, moving and painting with the music non-stop until the art tells me to stop. This performance process is done like Chinese Calligraphic brush painting – additively, one stroke at a time. At the end, I have performed the heartfelt communication with nature and myself, and processed the events captured in my field notations, returned to my original state of silence, inner peace.” The geometric shapes that appear frequently in McCullough’s work – the straight line, triangle and square – have their source in Islamic thought and architecture, representing the fundamentals of man-made order accompanying the naturally occurring forms of circle, arch and spiral. 40 1/2"H x 53"W