David Onri Anderson
The Nashville, Tennessee based artist discusses the spiritual in art, gardening, and the direct influence of beings from other dimensions.
David Onri Anderson’s paintings are impressions of sensory and spiritual experiences with images. Anderson employs experimental, non-objective and intuitive approaches to process and materials, with influences from Jewish mysticism and tantric art to cosmic philosophy. Through the process of expanding, deconstructing and echoing of a variety of forms, he seeks out the inherent alchemical possibilities in colors, materials and repetition. His most recent subjects are fed from his practice as a gardener and nature lover in Tennessee, using patterns from organic life forms, extracting dyes and textures from elements such as leaves, flowers and fruit, and unfolding stories alluding to a universal spirit or mythology. He seeks to become more and more sustainable in his practice through the incorporation of reusing materials, foraging, and making his own tools and pigments from his garden and local surroundings in Nashville, TN.
Mepaintsme: Thanks so much for speaking with me. As familiar as I am with your work, I know little about you. Can you tell us where you grew up? Do you come from a creative family?
David Onri Anderson: I grew up in Nashville, TN, born on the West side. My father works for himself as a graphic designer and illustrator and my mother does interior design and architecture design. My parents actually met at art school at Ringling College of Art & Design in Florida. Creativity has always been core in my family and way of living.
MPM: I've always found your paintings to exist in a very unique space. There's a deeply meditative and spiritual component throughout your work that brings to mind artists like Agnes Martin or Tantric art, yet they're often expressed through a somewhat comic language with a dash of humor. Are these dualities inherent in you as an artist? Do you see them in this way?
DOA: I've always been influenced by spiritual art, music, architecture, books, people and deeply love art that can point to a higher existence or way of being. But I also find that people who are into the sacred and the spiritual sometimes get pretty serious or somber. I think the key to all this sacred wisdom might be laughter. And I am interested in a world view that incorporates humor with the highly profound. I find the universe to be deeply funny, even if I think I am depressed or feeling down, something funny might still happen despite my personal emotional landscape.
MPM: Your one person exhibition, Mysteries of the Sun, showcased your most recent body of work you call 'Interdimensional Beings', which explore cosmic themes but through a more mythological lens. These works are more formally complex and echo medieval manuscripts. Can you talk a bit about your work's evolution and what inspired you to begin this series?
DOA: I have been into medieval and Byzantine art since I was a child. So this style of art making has been near and dear to my heart and approach for a while. My mother is French-Algerian, born in Paris, France so we would go back to France every now and then to see family, and I would see old icon paintings from the 1200s or old frescos on medieval walls from the 1100s and these images have really stuck with me. As I came into my own voice with painting, I went from painting psychic, energy portraits of fruits and peels and cores to exploring figures— ones that I call Interdimensional Beings.
MPM: And why the name Interdimensional Beings?
DOA: I call them Interdimensional Beings because I started communicating with angels, spirits, demons in 2020 after doing research on occult practices and spiritual practices of people like William Blake, Hilma af Klint, Iasos, and tantric practitioners of India, amongst others. Beings from other dimensions reveal themselves to me in various ways and give me very vivid instructions on what to paint and what it should look like. So I followed these visions for the past 4 years and have been documenting their instructions and likeness, which are this body of work. As I keep making this work, things keep shifting in my personal life and communication with the beings is sometimes less frequent. Quarantine seemed to be a great time to talk with them because I was unencumbered by time, deadlines, etc. Now I am over-aware of time and deadlines and it is harder to make a large space for deep meditation and vision quests. However, I still highly prioritize this relationship with these beings so I will probably never quit, but the practice has slowed down temporarily. Although I am in the beginning stages of a slow-burning painting along the lines of the Interdimensional Beings body of work.
MPM: This show also introduced some natural, sculptural elements like sea shells, wood and feathers, along with more experimental painterly approaches and heavy textures. How did these elements find their way into the work?
DOA: I have been using found objects, found paintings, assemblage, and collage and non-art materials since I was a kid. It has always been a part of my practice as a way to never waste anything. Sometimes it would take a good amount of time to find enough objects or have the right amount of stuff to finally make something or have a full living idea. But more recently I have had opportunities to incorporate objects, non-art materials and ideas that have been slow-cooking in the studio into something that feels dynamic and cohesive while still being funky and unpredictable for myself.
MPM: Do you see your use of non-art materials continuing into future work?
DOA: I will take shifts and breaks from certain approaches, sometimes for months or years, I need to be surprised by myself. I grew up around my dad who would collect junk and make assemblages and dioramas for children's books, sculptures and heavy paintings.
MPM: You also produced a rich body of landscapes for an exhibition titled Rapture at Institute 193 in Lexington, Kentucky. I felt a real openness in regards to your approach and found the paintings quite lovely. Can you talk a little about this series?
DOA: Yes! I had just finished spending about 5-6 months of full time painting on one painting in the Interdimensional Beings series. So I really felt a lot of energy and ideas for other paintings build up inside me while I was dedicating all my time to working on this one painting. I realized I had taken in so many memories and experiences of landscapes, both in my immediate region of the South but also throughout America and other parts of the world. I wanted to respond to these memories intuitively and without much planning or overthinking. My approach was to use paint straight out of the tube and not mix anything, and also use store bought primed canvases — I normally stretch my own canvases with raw canvas. This approach left me with the pure pleasure of painting and responding, no thinking other than recalling memories of being amongst these landscapes. Some of the landscapes were pure improvised imagination, no reference to a real place, so there is a mix of experienced places and invented landscapes.
MPM: Is there an art community in Nashville? What's it like being an artist in Nashville?
DOA: There is a vibrant and diverse art community in Nashville, and one of the best things about it is that most of us are actual friends with each other. There is an inclusive communal vibe, which I find to be quite special in a world where art scenes can sometimes be overly competitive or saturated. It is still difficult however, because it seems there is hardly a collector-base, and there are no contemporary art museums — we have only one art museum and it only does rotating exhibits, no permanent collections. So there is very little chance to find financial support or get much critical attention from writing or exhibiting. It is scarce in a way, but that's what makes the art community so vital and hungry. Super good and super bad.
MPM: You've mentioned how you garden and how this close relationship to nature informs your painting. Do you have other spiritual practices that guide you in your practice?
DOA: Yes, the garden and my daily attention with nature and the seasons is very important to my practice. I also do a daily meditation, reading from the Tao Te Ching these days. I cook my own meals, and I find cooking to be a grounding and inspiring practice. I also skateboard at least once a week, I find this to be very helpful for my energy levels and keeping strength. And in the evenings when most of my energy is spent I will make music, mostly playing my nylon stringed acoustic guitar as of late.
MPM: This question is a bit broad, but what do you hope to communicate to someone who looks at your art?
DOA: I make what I am compelled or guided to make, and the rest kind of unfolds over time. I think a great painting has many layers and levels of communication and meaning. So this effect may be felt immediately or not, and over time it will start to have other meanings or deeper truths come out after some more life has been lived. But in general I would hope my work inspires whoever looks at it to be empowered to do their special thing whatever it may be. I also hope to make the viewer laugh. Or cause someone to rethink if they even know what a flower is.
MPM: Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts. Do you have any upcoming shows or projects you'd like to mention?
DOA: Thank you so much! I love y'all's work and have been inspired by your posts for years!
I have one Interdimensional Being painting in a wonderful group show currently up at Berry Campbell Gallery in Chelsea, NYC until August 16.
I will be in another group show at Gallery 114 in Portland, OR.
And working toward a solo exhibition at Sheet Cake Gallery in Memphis TN for October 2025 (a while from now!)
David Onri Anderson is a MEPAINTSME featured artist. To view additional artworks, visit the artist’s feature page at www.mepaintsme.com.