2025 | Spring
An initial Substack offering
Hello Buddies
Long time no see! It’s been an intense and transformational end of 2024 and beginning of 2025. I had a major operation, my daughter Hazel was born, I was hired at some new schools here in SF to teach art, and I jumped ship from Instagram. Because I deleted my account, I’ve been feeling a little all on my own over here. Thus far, Substack is a bit of a clunky, unintuitive platform but leaving social media has been amazing for my artistic practice. Now when I’m making work I can just listen to that little voice in my head instead of all the comments (the good, the bad, the dreaded none at all) on Instagram. I’m sitting with my work for weeks after it is completed - just me and my work until I know for sure that it is done - then I can share it - no pressure from the algorithm. I’ve had some artists who I respect come over to see what I’m working on in person and get some feedback one-on-one. Remember that idea??? I’m reaching out to people via email or text message like it’s 2005 all over again. Despite seeing people I know on Instagram on a daily/weekly basis, I stopped really connecting with them as they were lost in the avalanche of endless scrolling - mostly bloated these days with ads, paid posts, spam, etc. not to mention the whole Zuckerberg factor. Something will come along and replace Instagram but for now, I feel better being off it completely - off the grid and listening to my heart/art. Hear this my fellow creators! Leave “social media” and let us be social IRL! Email me, text me, call me. Let’s connect again!
New Series
Here is my first selection of work ready to share through this newsletter. Each piece is 22” x 16” and done in Sumi ink, oil-based pencil, and coffee. This is a moody batch of drawings my friend - darker than I really wanted them to be but I fought to bring some light into them. I had half my thyroid cut out, Trump was sworn in again, democracy itself seems to be crumbling, micro-plastics are in our brains. There is a lot going on. I feel that this work taps into some of that anxiety and darkness. But despite the doom and gloom, this series spawned a new batch of super colorful light-filled works (see preview below). The next batch will be shared as part of the Summer series that I’ll post on July 15th (this newsletter is quarterly, Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter). Let me know what you think. Don’t forget that you can visit my website to see this work and lots of other content, pick something up from the shop, etc. Thanks for looking! Thanks for SEEING!
Preview | Summer 2025 | COLOR!!!!!
Here is a teaser for the next body of work that I’ll share with you in July. The other images in this new series are getting more and more playful, tearing down boundaries, shifting foundations. It’s going to be a complete freak fest. Stay tuned friend!
Spring 2025 Mixtape: Roadrunner
While I was making these black and white pieces, I was diving deep into surf, garage rock and rockabilly from the '60s and early '70s. There’s something about the jangly, rough-hewn sound of this music that feels profoundly human—raw and visceral. It’s filled with passion. In the age of AI can we not collectively agree to the importance of passion in art? Of ecstasy? Of ecstatic vision? A primal yell to release our pent-up psychic energy? I was thinking about my experience of being under the knife when putting this mix together. With an operation there’s going to be blood, drugs, and a brutal hangover waiting on the other side. But if it’s successful, you emerge transformed—maybe even transmogrified. You carry your scars, your stigmata, and live to tell the tale. Be well buddies! I’ll see you on the other side.
ps. if you want you can download the whole thing and pop it into your cassette player when you get home. Here’s the playlist too.
Reading Homework: Raja Yoga by Swami Vivekananda
“Sit in a straight posture, and the first thing to do is to send a current of holy thought to all creation; mentally repeat: “Let all beings be happy; let all beings be peaceful; let all beings be blissful.” So do to the East, South, North and West. The more you do that the better you will feel yourself. You will find at last that the easiest way to make yourselves healthy is to see that others are healthy, and the easiest way to make yourselves happy is to see that others are happy. After doing that, those who believe in God should pray—not for money, not for health, nor for heaven; pray for knowledge and light; every other prayer is selfish.”
- Swami Vivekananda from his lecture Raja yoga
See You Next Time
Your feedback is welcome as I seek to fine tune this newsletter during each iteration. Next time I want to include some process shots but I feel that there are other things that might make sense in this new space that I haven’t even thought of yet. I want to make this something that people are interested in as much as possible so hit me up with feedback at info@christopherdavison.com if the spirit moves you.
Very cool Chris! Enjoying these dark works and look forward to the color release. Your mythic imagery is always inspiring. Digging the music too!
Hey Chris! Hope all is well! Loved reading through the first quarterly. The ink/coffee drawings are beautiful and moody. I think I saw a Los Caprichos reference in there 🦇
Excited for what’s to come!