Erickson, David Peinture [USA]

David was born in a suburb of Chicago situated on the shores of Lake Michigan. It was an ordinary, middle-class setting except for the fact that his mother was a painter and a printmaker, his father a painter and sculptor. David showed an early instinctive interest in everything his parents did. With their coaching, he explored drawing, painting, writing, and other forms of creative expression. His passion was roaming the shore of Lake Michigan in quest of found objects for the "museum" that he kept in his room. His parents offered uncritical encouragement and allowed him to follow his whimsical instincts. His most interesting talent was discovering art all around him. In his late teens and twenties, David took several art classes at Indiana University. But the stuctured, rigid approach as well as the dissection of color and line were anathema to him. It seemed that any art form he pursued was overrun with precedents, and there was an insistence that he master others' techniques before he actually pursued his own artistic identity. Although influenced by such artists as DeKooning, Pollock, Calder, Kandinsky, and Gorky, David felt that rather than match his creative talent to a previous technique, he wanted to find a technique for his talent. Finding no outlet for his artistic ambitions, he put his art aside. He began studying religion and philosophy and became a practicing Buddhist. He travelled to various corners of the country: from Los Angeles to New York, from Boulder to New Orleans. During this time he could find no appropriate outlet for his creativity. He had learned many techniques of expression but could not find a style that suited his philosophy of serendipitous discovery and uninhibited creativity. The birthplace of David's mature art was New Orleans. He had moved there to live with a friend buying and restoring historic properties. He began to experiment with industrial enamels and created art with tools and materials from the job sites...

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