UpfromSumDirt: The art of Ronald Davis

An interview with multimedia artist Ronald Davis

On the crossroads between Romare Bearden, Basquiat and a serious psychadelic head trip, Ronald Davis is an artist that pulls from many sources. We found his artwork through Myspace, and asked him to share his thoughts with us...

1. How would you describe your work?

I often refer to my style as 'abstrack africana' - much of it is collage-based with hand drawn elements incorporated into it. I'm a jumble of influences ranging from artists Romare Bearden and Pedro Bell to Sun Ra and the poet Haki Madhubuti.

2. What is the most exciting thing going on in your world right now?

Being in a reciprocating love affair. We've started a collaborative literary journal called MYTHIUM; check us out at mythiumlitmag.com, we're always seeking quality submissions.

3. What role can/does the artist play in shaping society?

It depends on where society is at the time that artist breaks into our awareness.
The voids in society are rapidly filling with useless material, so contemporary artists have to create their own hooks and niches that artists of the past didn't necessarily have to worry about; we all were 'angry' so we gravitated towards
those who spoke to our mindstates.

In this internet age, so many of our messages are quickly glanced at then quickly forgotten. Everyone now has an outlet for their voice...society currently shapes us more than we shape it. Power has shifted from mental or spiritual proficiencies to a technological one.

4. What musician/songwriter most represents what you do as a visual artist?

Funkadelic still holds it down to me... Brother Fela... the bluesman Junior Kimbrough... and i still roll with Public Enemy's 'Yo Bum rush the Show' blaring from my cassette deck (Yeah, I said cassette, what about it!).

5. Is there any musician you would like to collaborate with?

I'd like to sit in on a Haiku D'etat show...or the Carolina Chocolate Drops... but i accept me being an old man now, so most of the musicians I like the most are long gone... Muddy Waters woulda been someone I'd want to see... or Sarah Vaughan.

6. The best film you saw this year?

I really haven't felt anything since The Wire went off. Moolaadé was a good film; its older and deals with female circumcision. Pan's labyrinth was a good film i first saw about a year ago...a great movie on the same level as City of God.

7. What is your definition of "a good look."

I'm not into looks... I 'clean up good' only when absolutely necessary. Give me a raggety pair of overalls and a ratty t-shirt and I'm good.

8. Where do the ideas for your work come from?

I'm inspired by many things, mostly from reading and writing. I'm a poet and much of what i create is a visual reflection of what I'm wanting to write about. I love mythology...a people without indigenous mythology is a people living on borrowed cultures. I want my work to hopefully fill that void in the lives of African-Americans.

9. What is your ultimate goal as a visual artist?

To eat good. Or more specifically, to eat CLEAN food that is good for you. It's not a material thing, but simply having the ability to live your chosen lifestyle to the fullest of your abilities without compromising to the other agencies that intersect with us.