Meet David Rubin
Biography
David Rubin’s work as a physician and scientist enables him to connect purpose within his art making. Accordingly, he's intrigued by negentropy, a term coined by the physicist Erwin Schrödinger in the 1920s to explain how life makes order from the chaos of atoms. David creates his own sense of order through experiments in color and what he calls his “Art of Negentropy” by which many of his paintings are created in a spontaneous, unplanned way and with one mark informing the next, thus creating a sense of order from the colors and lines applied onto the surface.
David first began making art as a type of experiment in parenting when his daughters were younger. He thought painting would be a healthier option than watching television. This proved to also have a positive impact on David who enjoyed painting so much that he later began taking art classes, first with Chicago artist Leslie Hirshfield and then almost a decade later with artist Eric McRay in Raleigh.
Today, David has studios in both Raleigh and Chicago and refers to these as “Split Infinity Studios.” He exhibits his paintings at local and regional shows in both North Carolina and Illinois and resides in Raleigh, North Carolina with his wife.
Artist Statement
I am an abstract painter working with acrylics and mixed media. Within my career as a physician and scientist, I am drawn to explanations of how life works and adapts to its environment. A key term that describes this process is in negentropy which is the opposite of entropy, a measure of disorder. Coined by the physicist Erwin Schrödinger of the 1920s, negentropy depicts how living organisms make order from the chaos of atoms. I employ this idea in my creative process, referring to it as the “Art of Negentropy.” The result is that I am often less concerned with the outcome of my work and more so with the process and formation. I begin many paintings by selecting only 2-3 colors and have no other plan. Rarely using a brush, I make marks in a spontaneous way, with one mark creating the reason for and giving way to the next, until I have created a sense of order from the chaos of marks and colors. I work with substrates laid flat on the surface, allowing me to splatter, smear, and physically push the paint, often applying it by squirting it onto the surface. Many of my works use an impasto technique that creates texture and invites the viewer to a tactile experience. A majority of my current paintings also incorporate acrylic modeling paste to further the creation of physical textures.
Although I am drawn to abstract expressionism, my work is not fully abstract in that sometimes I also plan for subject matter that conveys a range of specific stories and ideas. A central theme expressed through my paintings is the idea of seizing the moment and my desire to create, live fully, be present, and make the most of life. As a child of the holocaust at age 5, the impact influenced me, forming my beliefs that one should learn, love, create, and always show gratitude. Today, the tensions and ideas of death and aging are prevalent for me, along with “memento mori” which translates from Latin for “remember you must die,” an artist trope that serves to remind of life’s fleeting nature. I often think that if this were my last day I would want to spend it partying, loving, and doing something meaningful such as creating.
- David Rubin