David Wilson - Enviro Art

Originally from St. Louis, Mo. David Wilson specializes in EnviroArt, which brings an artistic flare to environmental sustainability. Today, David Wilson pursues his sculpture career in Sarasota, Fl. His environ-art sculptural collages are constructed of scrap steel, metal, stone and other media.

David has been commissioned to create sculptures for various personal and business clients, and has had some of his sculptures displayed at various public locations in Missouri, Illinois and Florida.

David Wilson has always been intrigued by the concept of recycling metals and stone into art after a visit to a gallery in Soho in 1994. The theme of the exhibit at the gallery was enviro-art. David realized that he had ready access to the raw materials needed to create this type of art and decided to invest time into creating multi-media, sculptural collages.

David Wilson with Metal Sculpture in Background
David Wilson with Metal Sculpture in Background

About a year later David had a conversation with Alter Trading, a firm that manages scrap yards. After David told them what he was doing, Alter Trading commissioned David to design and create the furniture for their lobby and conference rooms out of scrap steel and other metals from their scrap yards. All the pieces were designed using items that Alter Trading trades on the open market - copper, aluminum, brass, and milled steel. Twelve pieces were installed in their corporate offices in St. Louis, Missouri.

The Parks Commission of the city of Belleville, Illinois, asked David to create a large outdoor sculpture that people could walk through. What a challenge that was! He created a sculpture, called Waiting, that is 15 feet long, 8 feet wide and 9 feet tall. St. Elizabeth Hospital in Belleville, Illinois, saw the sculpture and asked David to create an outdoor sculpture for the hospital's heart unit. David created Universal Hearts, a 1300 lb. sculpture that rotates when it is pushed. The success of these sculptures led David to create others - many of which have been featured in art shows and exhibits in the greater St. Louis area.

David's work encompasses everything from practical and useful pieces, like furniture and lighted pedestals, to pieces like The Door Man that are more representational or fanciful. Since David relies on the metal, stone or other raw materials he finds to "speak" to him, he never quite knows what they will "become," but "listens" and creates from "what they have to say to him."

With the ongoing encouragement of Patricia Mathews, David's wife and art critic beyond compare ( Pat was President of the Board of Art St. Louis ) his enviro-art takes two steps forward and one step back into reality.

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