A brief artist portfolio from David

4. David Svenson has been incorporating neon into his work since
the mid-1980s. In some works the glass and neon is the
dominant material, in others these elements are used with carved
wood or other sculptural materials to lend the works a subtle glow
of colored light.
David spent his youth amongst the orange groves of Southern
California, within shouting distance of the historic neon signage of
State Route 66, which left an indelible impression of multicolored
light isolated by the darkness of the light. David left California to
study Tlingit art and culture in Alaska, and witnessed breathtaking
displays of light by the Aurora Borealis.
In addition to working in is studio, David also teaches at the
Academy of Art University in San Francisco, and has taught
classes at the Pilchuck Glass School, Corning Museum of Glass,
Urban Glass and at international workshops, and he works
periodically with a team of Alaska Native totem carvers.
David says, “I am forever in debt to the sign industry for
technilogical advances as well as supplies, but the work I do is
far from advertising and purely motivated by self-expression. My
expressions are a visual diary of growing up with heroes,
fantasies, fear, humor and a path to spirituality and cultural
enlightenment.”