David Provan is a multimedia artist whose work explores the relationship between figure and ground, form and emptiness. In his current show at Garrison Art Center, "Barely Not Impossible," on view through November 5, Provan’s sculptures carve into space, delineating its contours with poetry and precision. His structures define the nebulous space that we inhabit, inhale, and generally take for granted. This continuous void is central to the artist’s work, pointing to the emptiness at the heart of Eastern philosophy.
Having travelled and studied extensively in the East, Provan expresses the inherent paradoxes found in both Buddhist and Hindu traditions. Negative space is transformed into virtual shapes, and empty passages become as substantial as the material itself. The visual interplay of absence and presence points to the Chinese principle of yin yang, a theme that runs through his larger body of work. While most Westerners associate yin yang with t-shirts and tattoos, Provan pierces through superficial interpretations by eloquently describing the integration of opposing energies. In Breath (2023), steel and space work in unison to create complementary shapes, like double U-turns in a continuum of emptiness. The scratched and rusted metal appears to be salvaged from a scrap yard, recalling the Japanese aesthetic of wabi sabi, in which beauty is seen in the imperfections of urban detritus.
Impermanence and continuity are recurring themes that run through Provan’s work. The Greek philosopher Heraclitus famously stated “panta rhei”, or everything flows, a view shared by Eastern mystics who believe that everything is in the process of becoming something else. In Radial Displacement (2021), the solid and empty shapes are interchangeable, where a circle cut out of steel is recast as a pair of diverging discs. Form empties itself only to become another form, the material and space flowing into one another in a seamless transformation of the medium.
In We Live In Each Other’s Wounds (2020), the five dominant shapes are empty, defined only by the rusted steel that encircles them and gives them life. This transition is essential to understanding Provan’s three-dimensional works, as matter evolves from one configuration to the next in an endless cycle of becoming. The medium—corten steel—is not likely to undergo perceivable changes any time soon, which presents a contradiction concerning the use of a dense, enduring material to describe the fluid state of impermanence. Indeed, glaciers will melt and seas will rise before the sculptures corrode into a pile of rust. But Provan embraces this paradox, regarding the tension between the material and subject matter as another dichotomy that ultimately fuels his work.
Provan’s two-dimensional works explore form and emptiness through the traditional relationship of figure and ground. Unlike his sculptures that are equal parts material and space, the paintings and drawings are densely packed and leave little breathing room. With no place for the eye to pause, it continuously moves through the layers of patterns, searching for an image or symbol on which to rest. In Play (2019), the figure emerges from the ground in the form of an endlessly looping knot, a traditional symbol in Buddhist iconography. Alluding to the cycle of birth, death, and the many entanglements between, the eternal knot is a theme that Provan also explores in his three-dimensional works. In the latter they become literal knots; in the paintings and drawings they may be read as diagrammatic charts that elucidate the unconscious, much like the esoteric paintings of tantric masters.
In The Inevitable “I” (2017), the ambiguity of the figure/ground relationship creates an illusion that teases the “I” and plays with objectivity. The background pushes into the foreground shape, or maybe it’s the other way around; the point isn’t to figure it out, but to accept both possibilities and allow the resulting tension to be present. This duality is the essence of Provan’s two- and three-dimensional works, challenging us to embrace opposing concepts and become familiar with the emptiness at their core. It’s a tall order for those of us who are entrenched in binary thinking, but Provan’s work indicates that the effort is worthwhile, courageous, and (barely) not impossible.
“Barely Not Impossible” will be on display at Garrison Art Center through November 5.
