“Elsewhere”
An Online Exhibition by Drew David
Welcome to Elsewhere
Elsewhere reflects the space between emotional transition and stillness — a quiet meditation on longing, memory, and the desire to rediscover meaning. Across five monochromatic ink paintings, this series explores the quiet tension between interior states and external environments. Created using Indian ink on paper, each work invites viewers into a moment of pause — a space between presence and absence.
You are invited to engage with the series through a range of pathways:
1. Artist Statement
Learn more about the conceptual foundation, emotional narrative, and material process behind the series. The artist statement offers insight into the recurring figure, the symbolic paper boat, and the central themes explored throughout the Elsewhere exhibition.
Read the Artist Statement
2. Online Exhibition
A gallery-style presentation that echoes the stillness of a physical space. Each work is paired with a minimalist didactic and presented as a high-resolution static image. Ideal for those who prefer a slow, uninterrupted encounter with the artwork.
Enter the Online Exhibition
3. Immersive Art Capsules
A series of short-form video experiences, each just over one minute in length. These capsules expand each artwork through subtle soundscapes and didactics, inviting a sensory, time-based engagement with the work. Think of them as moving reflections — small immersive windows into the emotional atmosphere of Elsewhere.
Watch the Immersive Capsules
4. Make a Paper Boat
As a quiet, hands-on extension of the series, you’re invited to fold your own paper boat — a simple, meditative act that echoes the central motif of Elsewhere. A short silent video demonstrates the process step by step.
Watch the Origami Boat Video
5. Reflections on Elsewhere
Before you leave, you’re warmly invited to sign the guestbook. Share a thought, a memory, or simply say hello. Your reflections are welcomed and valued.
Sign the Guestbook
Thank You for being here.
— Drew David
On Stillness and Searching
Drew David
In my current series, Elsewhere, I explore themes of emotional transition, personal history, and quiet resistance through monochromatic work that sits between realism and surrealism. At the heart of the series is a recurring figure — a man with a paper boat for a head — who functions as both personal symbol and emotional proxy. This surreal character embodies a state of internal conflict: the weight of societal obligation and routine set against a fragile desire to rediscover lost joy and wonder.
The work emerges from a tension I feel deeply — the pull between the structured demands of adult life and a longing for the freedom and exuberance of youth. The paper boat, delicate and impermanent, draws from childhood memory and evokes both curiosity and fragility. In contrast, the man’s suit anchors him in the rigidity of the present, representing expectation, repetition, and the quiet grief of passing time. Through this figure, I explore the emotional terrain of loss, longing, hope, and the possibility of change — not as fixed ideas, but as shifting inner states shaped by memory, time, and personal reckoning. Beneath these tensions lies a deeper search for direction and meaning — a quiet questioning of life’s purpose and the self’s place within it.
Visually, the work is restrained but charged. I use graphite and India ink on Canson 290gsm paper — a surface that supports both fine detail and fluid brushwork. My process begins with thumbnail sketches and portrait photography, moving into large graphite studies to refine tone and form. These studies evolve into layered ink paintings where light and shadow build depth and tension. Negative space becomes as significant as the figure itself, and narrative resolution is intentionally withheld, inviting viewers to inhabit the ambiguity — to complete the story themselves.
Elsewhere is grounded in personal experience, but it leaves space for broader reflection. In this space between stillness and searching, I hope the work becomes a contemplative passage — one that speaks not only to where we are, but to where we long to be.
Immersive Capsules
“Dissonance”
“Inertia”
“Threshold”
“Unquenched”
“Paralysis”
Make a Paper Boat
Reflections on Elsewhere
Thank you for visiting Elsewhere.
If the work has stirred a thought, a memory, or simply a quiet feeling, you're invited to leave a message. This guestbook is a space for reflection, connection, and community — a way to share your impressions or just say hello.
You’re also welcome to sign up below to receive updates on upcoming exhibitions, projects, and creative offerings.
— Drew David