David Altmejd walks the line between abstraction and representation, continually layering elements to find meaning in construction. His varied practice—inspired by architecture, natural science, dreams, peripheral dimensions, and alchemy—focuses on recombination and organization. His figures, made either of clay or organic materials, often include crystal-filled orifices that summon both fascination and terror. Like David Lynch, Altmejd forces the viewer to negotiate between the artificial and the natural, inside and outside. The artist strives to remind the viewer that transformation is only possible after decay, and that perhaps an abject scenario can better remind one of beauty. Plexiglas environments that display Altmejd’s smaller sculptures of organic materials, grotesque readymades, and samples of materials including glitter, artificial hair, resin, thread, and sequins, among others, highlight his ability to fluctuate between conceptual and process-driven work.

Altmejd has exhibited at the Brant Foundation Art Study Center, Greenwich, Connecticut, MAGASIN – Centre National d’Art Contemporain de Grenoble, France, Fundacio La Caixa Museum, Barcelona, Middleheim Museum, Antwerp, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, MOCA Cleveland, Ohio, The Guggenheim Museum, New York, New Museum, New York, and The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, among many others. He participated in the 2004 Whitney Biennial and the 8th Istanbul Biennial in 2003. Altmejd represented Canada in the 52nd Venice Biennale in 2007, and won the Sobey Award in 2009.