David Spencer was selected alongside popular local artist Anya Brock last year to the role of brand ambassador for Sirona Capital’s King’s Square project in Fremantle.
David Spencer was selected alongside popular local artist Anya Brock last year to the role of brand ambassador for Sirona Capital’s King’s Square project in Fremantle.
Having each completed one major painting in 2017 to be exhibited at the site, the artists’ works are being used across all promotional material for the project.
The ongoing part-time position will also involve the pair working on a series of live public paintings once the site is safe and closer to completion, Mr Spencer told Business News.
“Anya and I are helping out with a visual identity project from a local perspective,” he said.
“We each did a piece, which was based on Fremantle; Anya did a seascape and I did more of a geographical birds-eye view of the city in an abstract sense.”
Mr Spencer told Business News he considered himself a ‘Fremantle artist’ and drew on its harbour for inspiration.
“I particularly like the mesh of colour and the rust of the sea containers, the juxtapositions of textures down there, so all of that feeds into the imagery of what this project is meant to be about,” he said.
“We’re more or less embodying the idea behind the project because there’s going to be artisan-specific industries going in there; small businesses doing leather goods or small artworks.
“It’s basically bringing it back to where Fremantle was 20 years ago with all the small shops and people creating and being creative.”
Mr Spencer has been painting for more than 10 years, typically reflecting the modern industrial world through his abstract art, but said he had only recently become sufficiently confident in his work to call himself an artist.
Unlike many artists, Mr Spencer said he deliberately lacked a definitive style, using acrylics, oil, spray paint and enamels at will, frequently featuring bright colours, bold strokes and textures across his collections.
Some of Mr Spencer’s commercial works have included the can design for Otherside Brewing Co’s Harvest Red Ale, a wall mural for Aloft Perth, and a label design for Xanadu Wines.
Most recently, he was awarded a $20,000 contract through Art Source to contribute to a commercial development project in Cockburn.
Mr Spencer said the Cockburn project would involve painting and sculptural work on walls.
“This one was only for $20,000, but because it was a low one (given) these things can go up to $500,000, you take it humbly and you start low, so I’m going to cut my teeth on that working budgets and trades,” he said.
“And once you can get that ($20,000 project) it’s like a foot in the door and I can start going for $40,000 ones, and then up and at ’em, and then I will maybe be a full-time artist, who knows.”
Mr Spencer is currently holding his 13th solo exhibition at Robert Oatley Vineyards in Margaret River, running until early March.
