Allen is a last name that appears across campus; on buildings, in yearbooks, in the school’s history, and seen through sculpture. David Allen (DA) '93, son of Margaret Allen, is a sculptor who created two pieces as part of the Campus as Canvas initiative, The Core and The Sphere. In an interview, Allen gave insight into his work on campus, The Core on the island by South Hall and The Sphere in the courtyard at the Learning Commons.
Tell us about The Core and The Sphere and your process to create them.
DA: Even though these sculptures are different shapes, the process is similar if you are looking at the silhouettes of both of them. One is a sphere and one is a teardrop and they consist of circular pieces stacked on top of eachother. All the material in these works is remnant materials, such as cut offs from countertops. I created them by taking things that were destined for landfill and used these salvaged materials. The materials look fairly homogenous, but they actually vary by small amounts. There is a lot of mixing and matching that went into these works, especially in The Core. I’m basically stacking these pieces of salvaged material on top of eachother and drawing out these circles, cutting the discs, and shaping them and then putting them together.
How did you use the campus as inspiration for these works and/or what connections do you see between the pieces and their environment?
DA: For me it's more of a subconscious inspiration because I grew up on this campus. When I think about art and my art career I think about my dad who was an art teacher and art director. While I wasn’t into art early on, I was around it all the time but wasn’t ever consciously thinking about being an artist. I had my dad as an art teacher and it's kind of this thing that came around later, I wasn't thinking about those things consciously. I feel impacted in a more subconscious way. My dad is one of the more inspirational artists that has impacted me. I was around it so much and love what he does.
Is there anything else you would like to share about The Core and Teardrop?
DA: The Core was one of my mom’s favorite pieces and it is there to memorialize her, but it’s sad that she wasn’t around to see it here. I grew up in South Hall, so I walked over the hill where The Core is thousands of times in my life. When I was younger I never would've imagined fast forward thirty years and there's a sculpture that I made.
How can people learn more about your work?
DA: I’m @stonepointstudio on all social media, my website is slightly outdated but has contact information. Instagram is the best place to learn more about my work because it has thousands of pictures of the pieces and you can see the process behind them.
