Gavin W. Sewell

Boldly Over Horizons is a public art collage and wall-sculpture diptych commissioned by the Department of General Services for Smothers Elementary School in 2022.

The work uses acrylic paint, pen, pencil, ink, china-marker, photographs, ink-transfers, and reflective metallic foils applied with acrylic mediums and polymers. The three dimensional sections are made from found objects adhered with weld adhesives, fasteners, and resin.

The theme of the piece is discovery and exploration personified by great scientists and trailblazers of color. These include aviator Bessie Coleman, mathematician Gladys West, public health innovator Sophia B. Jones, chemist Percy Julian, zoologist Charles Henry Turner, epidemiologist Alice Ball, public intellectual Neil Degrasse Tyson, inventor Elijah McCoy, and astronaut Mae C. Jemison. The initials and birth years of these inspirational people are incorporated into the sculpture at top, along with objects symbolizing their achievements.

The faces are surrounded by a collage of patterns, colors and shapes from Batik and other global weaving traditions which symbolize the warp and woof of time through generations and diverse cultures.

At bottom are golden reflective silhouettes of children encouraging the students to see themselves as part of the ongoing story of science and innovation.

Project facilitation and final installation on site were by Zenith Art Gallery.

This piece was created as a site specific public artwork for Eaton Elementary School in 2021. It was commissioned by the Department of General Services in Washington, DC.

The work is a mixed-media collage and wall-sculpture on wooden panels and canvas. The two-dimensional areas use gessos, pen, pencil, china-marker, Golden and Liquitex brand acrylic paints and mediums, fine papers, photographs, digital prints on acid-free paper, ink-transfer techniques, metallic foils, and other media.

The sculptural elements include both found objects and objects created or altered by the artist. The 3-d objects are attached to the panels using nails, wires, permanent construction adhesives, and then further reinforced with coatings of Golden brand acrylic modeling paste and pouring mediums.

The concept of the piece is ‘art as scavenger hunt’. The work includes many visual and literary references to the history and culture of the school and to the biography of its namesake, General John Eaton. The collage aims to encourage the curiosity of Eaton students about their own participation in history.

Community members contributed ideas, feedback, and photos which were extremely helpful in the creative process. The artist would like to extend special thanks to long-time Eaton art teacher Margaret Delorme whose contribution of photographs was invaluable.

Final on site installation was facilitated by Zenith Art Gallery.

This commission evolved into a diptych: two large scale pieces, one taking a more painterly approach in acrylics and traditional collage, the other using a large scale ink-transfer technique for a more graphical feel.

This digital collage on paper was commissioned by the Correspondence Wine Co. for its Cabernet Sauvignon, ‘From Away’ available exclusively from Foxcroft Wine Co.

The artwork suggests the time, tradition, and cyclical nature of winemaking with a playful contemporary nod to Aesop’s fable of the fox and grapes.

This painting was commissioned in 2019, evolving out of a series of abstracts incorporating reflective foils covered in multiple layers of semi-translucent acrylics. The artist worked closely with the collector developing the work from drawings up to the finished artwork.

This design is for a large scale collage and wall-sculpture exploring the life of the great civil-rights leader Dorothy Height. The work is a detailed visual history of her achievements and the local school community. Three dimensional sections contain symbolic objects, names, and dates relevant to her career and the social history of the period. Design commissioned by the Department of General Services 2023 - not selected for installation.

This piece was created as a site specific commission for a space in New Zealand.

The artist worked closely with the collector to make a visual history of the city of Dargaville with colors and geometries related to the installation site.

From tone and design palettes provided by the collector, the artist proposed several initial ideas as rough sketches. Final preparatory drawings evolved through collaboration and dialogue.

The full size artwork was executed on heavy cotton-duck canvas using archival acrylic mediums, paints, paper, photographs, metallic foils, ink-transfer techniques, pens, pencils, and other media.

After approval by the collector, the collage was taken off the mounting and carefully rolled and crated for shipping. It was restretched and installed on identically sized stretcher-bars at the site in New Zealand.

For more information about commissioned artwork please reach out to the dealer nearest you or fill out the contact form with ‘commission’ in the subject line.

This collage was commissioned by a private collector in 2012 as a mixed-media reinterpretation of a well known Salvador Dali painting, Tuna Fishing.

This design for a series of transparent digital collages for application on glass was created for Waco Airport. The project required integration of imagery provided by community members in aesthetically appealing format that could be repeated on section of a glass wall partition. Designed but not installed.

These designs were created for a large collage work at Waco Regional Airport. Silhouettes surrounded by reflective foils and opalescent paint portray important local animals - the mammoth, desert hawk, and monarch butterfly - juxtaposed with aircraft. The collage material in the background shows thematic imagery and photos of local nature and the surrounding community. Designed but not installed.

These designs for the transparent curtain wall of a school library celebrate the life and achievements of African-American naturalist, mathematician, astronomer and almanac author Benjamin Banneker. These designs were commissioned by the Department of General Services in 2021 - not selected for installation.

These are selected commissioned and custom made artworks for individuals and companies. For more information about commissioning artwork please contact the dealer nearest you or fill out the contact form with ‘commission’ in the subject line.

This was a site specific proposal for a public art commission by the Edgar Allen Poe society for Poe Square in Boston in 2012. The design is a collage of welded metal elements suggesting the wrought iron gate of a 19th century church yard. Special attention was paid to the way light would pass through the artwork and cast evocative shadows at dusk and dawn. Final artwork contract was awarded to Stefanie Rocknak. A more detailed project overview and narrative is available here.