Luminosity : David W. McCauley, Jr. | One Night by the Salish Sea

24 x 30, oil on wood

As a dancer, when my body swoops and hovers, melts into the ground, or cradles another body, those watching cannot help but come along for the ride. Our brains are designed to “tell” us stories. As a viewer watches the dance, their mind is already at work telling them a story of pleasure, pain, love, despair, awe. Because we are all literally made from the same star stuff, we are connected by a set of physical laws that mandates a specific amount of space between atoms. Through that space the life energy of our bodies is able to flow, to send and receive messages that can be immediate, physical, and sometimes metaphysical; making profound experiences available to us through any one, or combination of, our five senses.

 I like communicating in visuals and movement because there is no need to know a particular written or spoken language. As long as art exists, it can speak to anyone. It’s a reason to always reach for the best that you can do, knowing it is always possible to do better. 

 Using oils, acrylic paint, graphite, charcoal, and other media, I capture aspects of my subject to lead the viewer to an inward place. Looking deeply at a painting can communicate more than just an image. It is said, “The eyes are the windows to the soul.” Those who choose to look and contemplate the view may find a moment to experience the mystery of our humanity.

BIO

David W. McCauley, Jr. holds a Master of Fine Arts in Interdisciplinary Arts from Goddard College. David enjoyed fifteen years with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Foundation, as student, instructor, and performer. He performed with the Pearl Primus Dance Company, and the Omega Liturgical Dance Company, founded by Carla De Sola. After moving to San Francisco in 1990, he joined Carla in forming and dancing with Omega West Dance Company. Concurrently, he performed with WingIt! Performance Ensemble.

In 2001 David inaugurated and directed Berkeley/Oakland AileyCamp at Cal Performances at the University of California at Berkeley, where he led the program for nearly twenty years. In 2020 David officially passed the torch to new leadership at AileyCamp. He is now stretching his creative wings over other fields of art including Painting, book illustration, and book design.