Durand Seay's Page

Artist Statement

Architecture became my career, not because I wanted to do so, but because I was good at understanding form, space, light, and process. My father, being the architect and civil engineer that he was, happen to also be talented in watercolors. At a very young age he taught me his painting skills, which left me wanting to explore art. He exposed me to architecture as I was older. So, I decided to pursue both. Therein, my art combines the intuition of an inner self and the influences of architecture.

To be good in architecture you have to perceive space, not strictly as enhancing a volume to contain, but as something that directly affects the user psychologically through time. We experience space by an action of moving within or through it. Therein, time can be slowed down, sped up, or stopped to manipulate how a space is made apparent. Light, for example, also an element of time is one of our most powerful means of manipulating the movement process. Architects are the sculptors of space and form, but also the weaver of enhanced experiences.

My work is surreal, creating a representation of the subconscious mind through fantastic imagery that pursues symbolism of our spiritual connections. With my intuitive character, my work is guided by spontaneity, expressing a sensual and abstractive language. The work expresses space as form, two dimensionally, like an architect, while implanting an idiom of time through movement. My thinking is that of a camera, capturing that instant feeling of the wind against ones face.

Education
Bachelors of Architecture, Auburn University, 1978