David Eisenhour

Pacific Northwest sculptor David Eisenhour interprets the organic, magnifying plant and animal forms with his free-standing and wall-mounted bronzes. Through his artistic processes Eisenhour tells stories of natural history and human experience. Sculpted kelp and seaweed forms anchor themselves to found objects, such as rocks, an old gas pump, a keyhole, an antique multiwrench, a horseshoe, and other castoffs. Their fusion reminds us of the impacts of human activity on the natural world. These bronze and found-object works are accompanied by a multitude of bronze barnacles and limpets. Their larger-than-life size makes for a fascinating and slightly surreal visual exploration of their protective shells. Eisenhour’s artistic vision reflects his lifelong inquiries and documentation of the forms and beauty in nature, as well as issues related to the environment. The artist shares, “Magnification informs my art. Looking at bits of the natural world under the microscope is my connection to the building blocks of life. The recognition of repetitive patterns gives me sense of belonging to something grand.”

Eisenhour reveals, “I am a naturalist at heart. My artwork has always been rooted in my personal, and our collective, relationship with nature. I tend to work in series. This body of work represents two series - out of scale calcifiers and my found object series. The calcifiers have been used in large scale installations at both the Museum of Northwest Art and the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art. These and other installations have been used to start conversations about sea level rise and ocean acidification. The pieces in the found object series combine iconic agricultural and industrial objects with unique bronze seaweed forms. I hope you will enjoy the beauty of these forms and give some thought to our relationship with this planet.”

David Eisenhour is an artist living and working on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. He was born and raised in rural Pennsylvania and after graduating from high school spent four years in the army. Two of those years were in Germany where he discovered his first artistic medium - black and white photography. Upon returning home he searched out a small fine arts foundry in Virginia and was hired as a fabricator doing welding, assembly and finish work on sculpture. He painted using watercolors during this time but quickly switched to making sculpture. In 1986 he cast his first sculpture in bronze. In 1992 David moved to Washington to join the guild at Riverdog Fine Arts Foundry. Here he worked in all phases of the casting process with Northwest artists including Tony Angell, John Hoover, Tom Jay, Phillip Levine, Phillip McCracken and Ann Morris. David’s work was greatly influenced by these interactions. In 2003 David left Riverdog to work full time on his own art. The majority of David’s sculpture is cast in bronze and he has also worked in steel, and stainless steel. He has and continues to experiment with additional mediums including stone, found objects, concrete and coal and printmaking.