
David Beckman
David is a contemporary sculptor whose work reflects on memory, environment, and the quiet resonance of form. Rooted in the physicality of materials, his practice is shaped by an ongoing dialogue with process—cutting, casting, shaping, and refining. He creates objects that hold space for contemplation, where surface and silhouette respond to the way light reveals and conceals.
With a background in higher education and hands-on experience in foundry work, David’s approach is deeply informed by technical knowledge and collaboration. He has spent years guiding students and maintaining sculpture facilities, experiences that have sharpened his sensitivity to material behavior and the discipline of craft. His sculptures often emerge from this mix of mentorship, repetition, and studio experimentation.
Now based on the West Coast, David continues to build a body of work that balances intuition and precision. His forms invite close looking—each piece standing as both a resolved object and an invitation to reflect. Through his practice, he hopes to create a quiet space where others might recognize something of themselves.
Artist Statement
My work explores the fragile relationship between memory, place, and identity through form, surface, and structure. I am drawn to the way light interacts with physical materials—how it grazes edges, pools in recesses, or dissolves hard boundaries. These subtle exchanges between light and matter become entry points for reflecting on impermanence, perception, and the quiet imprint of lived experience.
Each sculpture begins with a moment of recognition—an emotional impulse or fragment of space that lingers. I rarely work from a fixed plan; instead, I let the materials and their resistance shape the direction. Additive and subtractive processes, revisions, and intuitive shifts mirror the way we construct and revise memory. The tension between precision and unpredictability is integral to my practice, creating objects that feel at once intentional and unresolved.
Ultimately, my work invites a tactile encounter—a pause to observe how volume, surface, and shadow resonate in space. I want the viewer to move with the piece, to notice how its presence changes with light or proximity, and to bring their own associations to the forms. By grounding abstraction in material experience, I aim to evoke reflection through quiet, physical intimacy.
Selected Achievements
2018
Art Department Faculty Biennial
Group exhibition at Fullerton College Art Gallery, Fullerton, CA
Sculpture Studio Technician
Fullerton College Sculpture Lab, Fullerton, CA
Arduino Developer
Stage Model for Facebook F8 Conference (FNTech), Fullerton, CA
Arduino Technician
Custom Arduino Programming with Jim Jenkins, Costa Mesa, CA
2017
Technician Collaborator
Interactive media development with Jim Jenkins, Fullerton, CA
Studio Assistant
Thomas Houseago Studio, Los Angeles, CA
2016
B.F.A. in Sculpture
California State University, Fullerton
Senior Solo Exhibition: "Emotive Perceptions"
Exit Gallery, California State University, Fullerton
Roger’s Lake Residency Exhibition
Flagstaff Contemporary and Modern Art Gallery, Flagstaff, AZ
Roger’s Lake Artist Residency
Flagstaff, AZ — Research and production in remote desert studio environment
Collaborative Installation
With artist Gavin Scott on "Yellow Submarine," Los Angeles, CA
2014
Fullerton College Student Art Exhibition
Fullerton College Art Gallery, Fullerton, CA
2013
Foundational Art Studies and Studio Arts
Fullerton College, CA
Fullerton College Student Art Exhibition
Fullerton College Art Gallery, Fullerton, CA