David H. Clemions, a professional in metal smithing with pieces dealing with personal mythologies, working around racial identities, such as his “Remembrance Rosary,” influenced by the many times he can remember being asked “Are you black?” Some of his inspirations include: Adrian Piper, Kerry James Marshall, Kara Walker, Michael Ray Charles, and Fred Wilson. Pieces like “Band Aid Advertisements,” draws from the use role reversal between races in which instead of using the tradition skin tone” colored band-aids, these are switched with browner complexions. This is also seen in the “Colt 45” advertisement of the 60s, substituting a white male with Billy Dee Williams, a black male, to attract a new demographic of audience. He also took shots at today’s imagery portrayed in hip-hop comparing it to the racist “darkie” iconism in advertisements of the 1950s on down.
He also dealt with deeper subjects, for example comparing the lynchings of African-American males with the perception of male sexuality in America with “Trees We Connect;” showing Henry VIII in the center, and in the background, a portrait of a lynching and castration, and below it, a Diesel Ad. He also shows his skills in book making and crafting jewelry presenting neck wear and oriental pieces.
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