Merle A. Davison
My development as an artist has been much like the process of "recovery" from childhood trauma as well as alcoholism - a gradual strengthening of clarity and direction. First there was simply a need to express; to release the cacophony of emotions that rose as the clouds of denial and repression lifted. This need to express is often without a clear definition of what exactly needs to come out. But there is an allowance I have come to trust, as if being lead to a path that I don't know the destination of, but appreciate that I've been put on this path for a reason. The clarity is in the ability to appreciate that though I may not recognize, nor even like sometimes, the way a path is looking(the first layers of color on a painting or the beginnings of a sculpture), that if I just continue and allow, the process will unfold into a beautiful and necessary expression.
My belief is that as humans we have an incalculable array of different experiences, beliefs, thoughts and practices. We all "like" differently, "love" differently, "abhor" differently and "express" differently. We don't all have the same things, capacities or ideas. What we do all have, however, is emotion. We all have emotions. And in this realm of our beings is the innate possibility to connect, to understand, to empathize. It is this that I reach for; that is my deepest motivation. The connection that is possible beneath "who" we are, to "what" we are; beings whose emotions, I believe, are guidance systems to our own truths and the truths that connect us.
I do my painting on the floor because the space I first began painting in was so small, with no wall space, that the only place to paint was actually on the floor...and I still paint that way today. I have a larger space now, but still not big enough to do large-scale paintings...so, for now...if I can't reach the middle of the canvas, it's too big for me to paint on.
As far as my accomplishments...I've been in some great exhibitions including a solo exhibition entitled "Reaching from the Darkness" at the Highlandtown Gallery in Baltimore, MD in 2023 and a subsequent article in "BmoreArt" magazine's online publication about the show and my work, an exhibition in February 2022 in Baltimore, MD and in August 2022 in New York, NY called "I AM that I AM" that I had both a sculpture and two paintings in; I've been in some great galleries and am grateful to have sold both sculptures and paintings from those experiences; I was honored to have had a sculpture featured on the set of "Philomena" starring Dame Judith Dench; and I am blessed to have a small space in Baltimore, Maryland in which I live and create art. What I hope is that there is something I've created that makes you feel something undeniable, whatever that might be. Thanks for reading, and thanks again for visiting my site!
Oh, and two reasons for the name: 1 - Merle means Blackbird in French, and 2 - one of my all time favorite songs, "Blackbird," written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, pretty much says everything you need to know about me: "...take these broken wings and learn to fly, take these sunken eyes and learn to see..." which is essentially what I'm doing.