David Craig: Sculptor

The natural world provides artists with many beautiful inspirations for their work. Some are more obvious than others and sometimes what nature gives requires a discerning eye.

Tucson-based Sculptor David Craig uses natural materials as the base for his botanical-themed creations, specifically, he uses the husks of dead saguaro cacti. 

While out foraging for new materials, he often finds himself wondering about the history of the saguaros he comes across. How did this plant come to be all the way out here? He shares that forming these ideas is part of the process for him.

“The beauty of collecting my material is the stories I get to make up around it, knowing how long and old the saguaro have to live to get as big as they were to now have this left over…”

Saguaro cactuses are beautiful in their prime and the many people who have come to appreciate them might not consider their death a very beautiful thing. But, that’s what makes artists like David so unique because they can see things that others can’t.

“There’s this bounty that nature is providing, there’s this material everywhere that people like myself were just taking for granted.”

Nature is a gift and should be appreciated in whatever way we see fit to do so. For David, it’s all about sharing what he’s found for other people to have an appreciation for the natural world, even in a more unorthodox way.

“There’s such joy in that find, my mind can immediately start spinning up what to do with this, how to use this, how to best memorialize the gifts I’m being given.”

Visit David’s website for more information and examples of his art.

This film is by Peter Fuhrman.

Produced by Peter Fuhrman.