David Huang

Artist Statement for David Huang

Treasure! This is something I’ve been thinking about recently. I hear people referring to my vessels as “treasures” and realize it is what I’ve been creating. Is this some subtle influence from all those sci-fi/fantasy novels I read as a kid, and to be honest, still read from time to time? I couldn’t grow up to be some heroic person out questing, slaying monsters, and discovering fabulous treasures. Is this how I make do?

Perhaps, I really don’t know. I do greatly enjoy questing, only I call it camping, exploring new landscapes with all their wild, complex beauty. In the absence of discovering those great hoards of treasure I guess I just had to make it myself. Slaying monsters? Well, who really wants to do that? I suppose a fantasy novel would lack pizzazz without the monsters, but personally I’d prefer going straight from questing to the treasure.

But what is it that I treasure? Clearly metal is one thing. It’s such a fascinating substance. I love the way it moves under a hammer, the colors it is or will become, the way its lustrous shine dances with light. The copper, silver, and gold I use the most all occur in the natural state. I like the romance of thinking I could be out exploring some forest, find some nuggets of metal, perhaps along the edge of a stream, and be able to work this into new forms.

Treasure is generally considered only for it’s material nature, but I think there are other causes for allure. Beauty is one of them. I seek to create in my pieces not just beauty, but timeless beauty, like that of a natural landscape. I think of beauty as a connection, two or more things finding commonalities or understanding of the other. The longer the sensing of beauty endures and more universal in its appeal, the deeper the connection is to ourselves.

I also treasure the soul of a thing, spiritual matters. This facilitates the living of our material existence and spans beyond, perhaps even to timelessness. I find it intriguing that before gold was seen as money, it was the material of the gods. Why does it have this long association with spirituality? I don’t know but the radiance it possesses on the interior of a vessel expresses this treasure of existence well.

For the abbreviated statement I probably should have written, this is work about things I treasure; the natural, sensual world, skilled labor, timeless beauty, and the inner spirit made visible.

Brief Process and Care Description for Metal Vessels

I work primarily with a technique called angle raising. To briefly explain the basics of the process, I begin with a flat sheet of metal, usually a disk, and using special hammers, slowly form it over various shaped metal stakes. This hammering makes the metal brittle, so to prevent it from breaking I must repeatedly anneal it. Annealing is a process of heating and quenching the metal to return it to a soft, malleable state. Once I have the desired form each piece is completed by soldering on a rim, and finishing the surface with either a patina or gilding.

I apply a paste wax to the exterior of each piece. You may wish to occasionally buff this up by rubbing with a soft cloth. Tarnish on the silver rim can be removed with a silver polish cloth. One should take care to not rub the gilded areas. This is a delicate finish. To remove dust from the interior you will want to use something very gentle. I usually use a very soft artist’s paintbrush. Often simply blowing gently into the vessel works just fine.