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Bridges
Instruments by J. Daniel Graham
Biography
Daniel was raised in a military family and moved every two years for most of his life. He comes from a family of storytellers who love investigation and creativity. Introduced and encouraged into creative outlets at an early age Daniel has never forgotten the lessons of craft from his mother (a basket maker and calligrapher) and the lessons of engineering and risk from his father. His training in the Arts comes from an Undergraduate Degree at the University of Florida in Printmaking and a Masters Degree from the University of Georgia with the same emphasis. Between the two programs of formal education Daniel lived in downtown Washington DC and trained as a furniture maker under woodworker Dennis Sitka. Currently Daniel is a Professor of Art at Georgetown College in Georgetown Kentucky where he teaches a variety of courses including Sculpture, Printmaking, 3D Design, Ceramics and Luthiery. He lives in Georgetown with his wife Holly, his daughter Olive, his son Thatcher, and their dog Cricket.
Instrument Statement
I have never really found myself attached to a place. Growing up in a military family, home was never really found in a specific location. I never stayed anywhere long enough to understand or soak in the history of that area. After living in Kentucky for the last fifteen years I have learned what it means to really be part of a community and what it means to take part of a story bigger than ourselves.
Kentucky has a rich history of old time music and I found myself drawn to learning the banjo. Not having a banjo, I decided to make one. I was no stranger to woodworking but I was definitely a stranger to this world of Appalachian music. I learned how to play and I soon found my imagination alive with ideas for so many types and styles of banjos. From there, I apprenticed to learn how to make dulcimers and violins. I see instruments as a unique place where my art practice can collide with my craft processes to create something completely new.
I am drawn to developing instruments that both play well and function as art objects. I want each instrument to be unique for it’s particular owner. I find great pleasure in striving for the highest level of craftsmanship and precision in every detail. The instruments I make are a collection of these elements sewn together to create an object that is worth passing down through generations.
Show Statement
Instrument makers almost always find themselves collaborating with the past. No matter the approach one recognizes that they are part of a connective tissue, a continuing thread that reaches backward, while simultaneously moving forward. This exhibition is documenting a crossover in that connective thread of past and future history.
I approach my instrument making practice from a divergent perspective while sharing in the tradition of traditional craft. I champion an exploratory curiosity, pushing the context of traditional materials while still staying connected to the form and story of the past, all the while driving the purpose and concept of the instrument into the aesthetics of a functional Art object.
