Sculptor David Mallin poses in his light-filled Durango "Lovelight Studio" on Monday. The large columns surrounding him are "a work in progress."/Photo by Todd Newcomer

Whether a poem or painting, artists make art for a reason. It is made to memorialize, to provoke, to inspire, to express beliefs and fantasies, to reveal truths, and to create beauty. Some art is made purely for an artist's own needs. Rarely is a work created for one purpose solely, but instead merges many intentions together to create a complex experience for the viewer. A "good" piece of art moves many parts of us and satisfies the deepest aspects of our beings. Most simply and profoundly, good art touches our souls and transforms our world.

One Durango artist who creates his work with soulful intention is sculptor David Mallin. The name of his business, Lovelight Studio, is a testament to this aim. Like his art, which functions on many levels, Mallin melds the roles of artist, father, husband and involved citizen into a seriously creative life. He brings a cultivated awareness of and appreciation for Mother Earth into his creative practice. "Each morning, the first thing I see is the majestic beauty of the San Juan Mountains," he said. When hiking, he is always looking, filling himself with the inspiration provided by nature. "My favorite part of the creative process is hiking. This is where the breath of spirit enters my being. This is where the light and the shadows inspire my awareness of form. This gets my creative juices flowing." Not only are his mind and heart filled from these walks upon the earth, oftentimes, so are his arms. "In a sacred manner, one of gratitude, I collect things like rocks and branches that I use in my sculptures. I look for materials that express the concept of Mother Nature in essence form."

Once back in his studio, these natural materials become the lines and forms that embody Mallin's creative "expression." He is specific in his use of the term "expression," which for him is the articulation of ideas, form and content that result from his "inspiration," that which he takes in through nature and other inspirational sources.

A major influence in Mallin's work comes from esoteric teachings of Judaism and is the concept of "the Divine Presence, the feminine creative aspect of God," which in Hebrew is called Shechina. "I present information to teach or share about this divine creative energy in my sculptures." The sculptures that he refers to are elegant structures made from local pi`F1on and juniper branches or cast bronze that reach powerfully to the sky, grounded into exotic wood bases. Suspended within the highly finished structures are polished gemstones and shaped symbols, which, when illuminated with a strong light source, cast shadows depicting the female form, "thus expressing the Divine Feminine." He makes it clear that he is not creating forms to be worshipped but rather, to be contemplated.

Mallin's artistic repertoire, from private commissions to his personal work, takes in a diversity of forms, materials, processes and styles. Perhaps this can be attributed to his knowledge and interest in and respect for cultures worldwide. "The shamans and artists of indigenous tribal peoples from around the world have provided big inspiration for me. The art and cosmology of the Northwest Coast First Nations of British Columbia, the Huichol of Mexico's mountains, and the Berber tribes of Morocco were of particular interest to me." Artistically he has been influenced by the work of well-known artists such as Archipenko, Mallol, Rodin, Brancusi, Henry Moore, Adolph Klugman and Marc Chagall.

Mallin's sculpture "Soul Sister," one of many which, when illuminated, cast shadows of the female form/Photo by Todd Newcomer

Mallin's artistic repertoire, from private commissions to his personal work, takes in a diversity of forms, materials, processes and styles. Perhaps this can be attributed to his knowledge and interest in and respect for cultures worldwide. "The shamans and artists of indigenous tribal peoples from around the world have provided big inspiration for me. The art and cosmology of the Northwest Coast First Nations of British Columbia, the Huichol of Mexico's mountains, and the Berber tribes of Morocco were of particular interest to me." Artistically he has been influenced by the work of well-known artists such as Archipenko, Mallol, Rodin, Brancusi, Henry Moore, Adolph Klugman and Marc Chagall.

He has special affinity with Chagall, a Russian Jewish artist who lived for nearly 100 years and died in 1985. Chagall's work portrays, through a fantasy-like vision, Jewish folktales and scenes of life filled with friendship and community. "Chagall and I share an emersion in Judaism, and we both grew up in somewhat anti-Semitic environments," he said. "In the area of Kansas City where I grew up, there was a fair amount of anti-Semitism. Kids used to throw tomatoes at my Hebrew school bus." This antagonistic and hateful atmosphere taught Mallin some early lessons in respecting all life.

Being the son of a Holocaust survivor and brought up in a fairly religious Jewish home, Mallin was indoctrinated into a traditional Jewish faith. "From early on, I rebelled against religious dogma. Later, listening to Reggae music, I was inspired to return to my Jewish roots." These days, Mallin's life and art are fully informed by his Jewish heritage, and he draws inspiration from its culture. "When I was in Jerusalem recently, I had a chance to see the Chagall Windows at Hadassah Hospital. There are 12 of them, and they are animated and phantasmagoric and have this dreamlike quality to them where the people and animals are floating in space and color," he said. "Chagall's dream life influenced his work, and the same is true for me. His work is surreal, and that is the genre I relate to the most."

On a recent visit to his studio, I was treated to Mallin's full artistic scope. Upon walking through the large doors, I encountered four huge signposts carved in a rhythmic spiral pattern occupying the floor area, a lifelike bronze relief portrait of John Lennon hanging on the studio wall, and Mallin's animated and delicately undulating linear sculptures dancing along the window ledges and encircling the studio. Commissioned pieces and his personal work intermingle in his studio, awash with natural light, designed especially for making sculpture. Being surrounded by such an abundance of art objects reinforced in me the truth that the world does need art and artists. And it is a privilege to be invited into an artist's inner sanctum, the studio, a world of possibility, productivity, symbolism and deep feeling. Mallin intends to keep the doors to his Lovelight Studio wide open - open to producing antidotes to the destructive energies so prevalent in our world. With a heart wide open, he creates "expressions of love and light inspired by nature," his contribution to the transformation of the world.