Daily Inspiration: Meet Lee Davenport

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lee Davenport.

Hi Lee, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Art has always had an ever-present influence throughout my life due to the artistic environment I grew up in. Specifically, there had always been fantastic paintings made by my grandparents on the walls of my childhood home and my young sprouting artistic endeavors were always supported. With so much of the art world that revolved around me as a kid, it was hard not to evolve into an artist.

Inevitably, I had practiced art all throughout my childhood and seriously began pursuing art when I started high school in 2013. Since then, I completed a degree in Art Studies at Arizona State University this year. Now, I spend my time participating in exhibitions, publications, and expanding my creative practice.

With all this in mind, I am incredibly grateful for all the opportunities I have been given and everything that has allowed me to artistically grow into the person I am today.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I have been very fortunate that the road of my story has been fairly smooth and straightforward, with each point in my life leading to the next. However, there was an uncertain period in my life where I struggled with what I wanted to do in my future.

It was hard to accept being just an artist and instead I should get a financially stable job working for a company, especially with the threat of being a literal starving artist. That thought is a concern I think a lot of artists, in all forms, contend with.

Despite this, I find that the truth to the matter is that being any kind of artist is just as real and viable as the standard nine to five. However, there is a lot more determination and persistence necessary to create a secure successful path. Even with this uncertainty, I am proud of how far I have come, and being an artist seems more achievable with each passing day.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I create visual art that is initiated by the inspiration of a story and fueled by the idea that artworks have the capacity to tell a complex visual narrative. These are my original stories that communicate an event, real or imaginary, in a way that is meant to either interest, captivate, and or inform.

However, due to the nature of visual art and its inability to tell a fully completed story, the aspect of interpretation plays a large role in what narrative is being perceived. I believe that my perception of my art is no more valuable than anyone else’s, so there is no right or wrong way of interpreting the story within my artwork.

How someone explores my artwork will be unique to them in a way that no other person could experience in an identical way, despite looking at the same imagery. To limit interpretations to one explanation would be to vastly restrict all the narratives I would be able to tell through the art, which goes against what I believe my art is for. My intent is to tell original stories via the means I find fit.

By applying a variety of mediums and processes, I can best represent the subject matter in captured moments of fantastical space. For instance, using acrylic on canvas might represent a need for thickness in the paint while watercolor can describe soft light. However, oftentimes I will use multiple mediums in a single artwork, playing to the visual strengths of the material while also considering the needs of the art and implications to the narrative.

Additionally, utilizing bright and contrasting colors combined with various expressions to hint at details within the narrative, each work ultimately creates an elaborate puzzle of story elements for one to interpret. Altogether, the art I bring into existence allows the viewer to immerse themselves into that world and experience a connection to an original narrative that is not their own.

How can people work with you, collaborate with you, or support you?
Whether anyone is looking to work with, collaborate, or support me, the best way to do so would be to contact me through my email. Otherwise, following my Instagram is the perfect means to keep updated on my future artworks, endeavors, and any other ventures.

I plan on building a website and online shop in the future, so my Instagram is the first place to know when and where that happens. Altogether, I am always incredibly appreciative and eager to engage in new opportunities or make new connections.

Contact Info:

• Email: Ldavenport.art@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spooktoberstudio/?hl=en