Shilling discussed the process behind creating the show’s sculptural, painting-like pieces
By SAVANNAH ANNO — arts@theaggie.org
Celebrating its opening on April 11, “A Matter of Life and Depth” is the third installation of Local Artist Gregory Shilling’s work at Delta of Venus, a colorful café located on B Street in Downtown Davis.
Shilling explained the beginnings of his work and how he came to create the installation.
“The owner of Delta of Venus, Lee [Walthall], and I have become friends over the years, and I am so grateful he keeps letting me decorate his walls,” Shilling said. “Lee puts a lot of trust into the artists that display and perform here and he doesn’t shy away from the wacky, weird or opinionated. I don’t feel like I need to rein anything in or soften any edges here, and that sort of creative freedom is rare in the world of cafés and galleries.”
Featuring at least one work on each wall of the café, the show features new and old pieces by Shilling, showcasing various figures, faces and even a handful of landscape paintings. Inspired by the importance of the body and face in human communication, Shilling’s most notable stylistic choice is the distortion and abstraction of the traditional “figure.”
In works like “Little Rest for Big Man” and “Mice and Me,” Shilling exaggerates the proportions of figures and leaves behind interesting shapes to be found through color blocking. With stretched-out limbs and heavy features, Shilling has become well-versed in drawing emotion out of each body part — from a droopy wrist to a bowed head.
While you may not yet be familiar with Shilling’s work through a café or gallery setting, Davis locals have most likely seen Shilling’s signature, saturated colors in large murals around the city or wrapped around the cans of Sudwerk Brewing Co.’s beers.
“I owe the relative financial stability of my 20s to Sudwerk,” Shilling said. “I like the art I’ve made for Sudwerk over the six or seven years we’ve been working together, but the work my soul wants to make doesn’t sell beer. The function of my designs is to look cool or eye-catching or badass. The stuff I do in the studio is in pursuit of something deeper and more human.”
A UC Santa Cruz alumnus, Shilling has been creating art since childhood, inspired by nature and figures to communicate human narratives. While he possessed a stronger background in painting, Shilling’s time as a student led him to another medium: wood sculpture.
“When I was in college, I really fell in love with the wood shop — I was just grabbing wood from the scrap bin and building little faces or houses, and eventually an entire miniature town,” Shilling said. “Sculpture always came second to painting, but I kept getting hung up on the idea that everything I was painting existed on a flat, rectangular canvas.”
Motivated by the idea of making a more intentional choice about the shape of his artwork, rather than just continue to paint in traditional forms, Shilling decided to incorporate his sculptural skills and new love for working with wood into his creations.
Ending with how it began, his first ever three-dimensional piece, “Regret and Shame,” is now displayed at the very back of Delta of Venus, the final work most people will see as they walk through Shilling’s show.
Based on a poem written by Shilling, an image of a woman in bed turning off a lamp is made up of finely cut wooden pieces, all layered on top of each other. Shilling breathes life into the three-dimensional work with small details — tiny, framed sketches, a real cloth curtain and even a small nightstand with cabinets that can physically open.
“When I finished ‘Regret and Shame,’ I had one of those moments where I was like, ‘Oh man, I’m really onto something here,’” Shilling said. “I could suddenly see all the possibilities of the future. Obviously I’m not the first person to cut out the elements of a painting and arrange them in a sort of sculpture, but I did feel like I was starting to pioneer something.”
Following the creation of “Regret and Shame” in 2023, Shilling continued to experiment with a unique mixture of painting and sculpture. Today, the artist uses thin pieces of wood to layer various shapes and colors within each of his signature, abstracted figures.
Shilling begins each piece in a sketchbook. Afterwards, the drawing is put into photoshop, where Shilling can trace and spread out each individual shape. The separated pieces are then projected onto a large piece of wood, which the artist uses to trace and cut out each section. He then finishes each work by painting each piece and assembling them into their original form, creating a layered figure held together with gorilla glue and small nails. While the three-dimensional images are similar to Shilling’s style in flat paintings and prints, the layered wood allows for an even greater emphasis on the artist’s use of color and unique shapes.
A UC alumnus with a full-time career in art and graphic design, Shilling also offered advice to current students that may be looking to go down a similar path.
“Make the absolute minimum number of concessions when it comes to pursuing your art,” Shilling said. “You can make a million excuses, about needing to afford nicer things or have more stability, but as the years go by, you will regret that you didn’t take bigger risks in service of your passion when you were young. There will be time for practicality when you’re older.”
With a determination to continue creating no matter what, Shilling has become a beloved local artist of Davis over the past few years. Hosting community events like the annual live painting competition, Art Mania, filling up wall spaces across the county with highly detailed murals of wildlife and continuing to hold solo-shows in local spaces like Delta of Venus, it’s almost impossible to not be met with Shilling’s bright painting style and passion for the arts as a member of the Davis community.
Written by: Savannah Anno — arts@theaggie.org
