Dave Rollins

Artist Statement

The works I create convey my interests in transformation through the interaction of art, alchemy, and magic. Medieval alchemists sought perfection and enlightenment in everything, visualizing a hierarchy that resided within all matter. The lowest tier of this scale represented the base, unchanged physical material while the highest tier displayed a spiritual purity and maturity representative of the divine.

Magical practice is also built on a desire to reshape reality. By manipulating elemental, personal, and cosmic energies, magicians could manifest change by the expression of willpower. Likewise, alchemists believed that spiritual elevation toward the divine would naturally reshape a thing’s physical characteristics, creating something new. By reworking material alchemists found that this act could also transmute themselves, moving incrementally toward self-perfection. Transformation, both inwardly and outwardly, of the material world and self were considered the keys needed to unlock the secrets of the universe.

Inspired by these ideas, I work to replicate what alchemists and magicians performed. Through drawings and sculpture, I reshape the energy within myself, changing and elevating my being and moving toward self-betterment. The resulting artwork becomes a physical manifestation of my personal journey of self-discovery and enlightenment.