Antinomies
Antinomies
Artist: Jonathan Michael Davis
Location: Concourse E, Gate E36 and Gate E43
Description: Jonathan Michael Davis created a series of suspended sculptures reflexive and responsive to its surrounding aesthetic located on Concourse E. The process involves multiple texturing and coloring techniques, utilizing blown and flameworked glass. This installation's shapes evoke themes of aquatic life and molecular structures, while bringing life to the aerial space. Concepts begin as translations of heat and movement while the modular glass components allow for creative spontaneity and versatility. This exhibit is a cerebral experience while creating moments of pause in a place of continuous motion is inspired by the artists’ adventure of nature. Dimensions for the West (Gate E36) measure at approximately 8' - 10' x 3' at its widest point for each piece with a weight of up to 80 lbs. each. Dimensions for the East (Gate E43) measure at approximately 3' diameter with a weight of 5 lbs each.
Commissioned by the Arts & Science Council and the Public Art Commission in partnership with the City of Charlotte.
Transcription
I got my start in glass back in 2001 - a friend of mine opened a studio in Durham and I pretty much just jumped on board as an apprentice. I think it was about seven years in that I was like, oh, this is what I do, like I'm a glass artist. These pieces started as something I had no idea what I was doing with. Some of them started to become more refined, and, you know, I'm accumulating these pieces, and then I started thinking, oh, how can I combine these, and then it just built off of that. The first one I made was back in 2014. The way I like to work is in this modular form where I'm creating the same types of shapes just in different sizes—they're interchangeable, and I use hardware to connect them. So most things with glass, you know, they're melted together, and they're permanent. Well, these actually assemble and disassemble into components. I use different finishes—mirroring, powder coating, electro-forming—there's so many finishes and kinds of things you can do with the material to make it look like glass, or metal, or plastic, or whatever. These are the largest sculptures I've ever made, eight to ten feet, 500 pieces of glass per sculpture. We started the design process in May of 2019, and, yeah, it's just ironic that the shapes that I'm making look like viruses, a lot of them. I just think it makes the story that much more interesting, that like, you know, I would see all these diagrams popping up, you know, these kind of cartoon diagrams of COVID. It's ridiculous how much this, and I'm making this project for an airport... it just plays such a big part of the story, but that's kind of magical in a way, right? You know, it's like I didn't try to do any of this really; it just happened, and it makes the story that much better, you know. The pandemic was hard for a lot of us, and this gave me a project that I could really sink into and focus all my attention on. This is the biggest thing I've ever done in my career. It has even more meaning to me now because it is what occupied so much of my psyche during the pandemic. You know, I feel like I've achieved a great goal. I feel really fortunate.