David Heshmatpour, At a Distance

“I like to play with ideas, words, and symbols, as well as explore the internal harmony or dissonance that can be created through those relationships.

The more stringently I try to define the meaning behind my work, the more my definition can limit a viewer’s personal experience. Instead of a concrete definition, I want to offer poetry that moves in multiple directions.

I invite others to connect with my work from their own context, in their own way, as well as engage with the shifting and overlapping layers of encoded narrative and symbolism.

In that way, I hope my work sparks conversations that could only happen in that particular room, at that particular time and place.

Ultimately, my work is intended to be a catalyst for viewers’ questions, thoughts, ideas, inspirations, processes, emotions, recognitions, and any reactions beyond what I could conceive of on my own.”

Dave is from Effingham, Illinois - the home of America’s second-largest cross.

The son of a Persian surgeon and a child of the Iranian Diaspora, Dave is a multidisciplinary visual artist working in painting, sculpture, drawing, and digital photography exploring narrative, ambiguity, symbolism, and the poetry of color and light. Being of two cultures in conflict, his work focuses on the search for self, institutional oppression, reconciliation, and the ongoing integration of digital space and material reality.

He gained a degree in Applied Science, specializing in welding technology, before graduating with a BFA in painting from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in 2020

He is a member of various local arts organizations including Da Vinci Art Alliance (DVAA), The Center For Emerging Visual Artists (CFEVA), and The Fellowship of The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (FPAFA), and instructs painting at Fleisher Art Memorial.

He lives and works alongside his very good dog Ruskin in Philadelphia.