Vaughn Davis Jr.: Wade in the Water

About

Vaughn Davis Jr. applies pigment and water-based dye to unstretched, wet canvas, allowing color to bleed and pool before tearing, folding, and creasing the material, working on the studio floor as the dye saturates the fabric. The resulting forms sit between painting and sculpture, referencing the African American spiritual "Wade in the Water" and its imagery of threshold states between submersion and dry ground. Davis (b. 1995) holds a BFA from Webster University and has exhibited at Romer Young Gallery, Dimensions Variable, and Laumeier Sculpture Park.