'Feel the painting': Artist Dave Pfanstiel to be featured in exhibit at Arts Council

Artist Dave Pfanstiel wants viewers to "feel" the weight of his work. And they'll get the chance during an exhibition starting this week at Arts Council of Southeast Missouri in downtown Cape Girardeau.

Artist Dave Pfanstiel will have a solo exhibit of his work beginning Friday at Arts Council of Southeast Missouri in downtown Cape Girardeau.Courtesy Dave Pfanstiel

Pfanstiel described himself as an abstract expressionist fond of working "in heavy textural settings." Getting a "heavy" texture, Pfanstiel explained, often means employing substrates that are literally heavy.

"I use concrete, I use salt ... what ends up happening is that literal weight is added to the piece and it's not just like a couple ounces, it's pounds of weight. So, I want the viewer to literally feel the weight of the piece when they're looking at it. It looks heavy because it is," Pfanstiel said before adding a caveat.

"My pieces don't weigh, like, 60 pounds. That's not what I mean. It's a visual and emotive response I want the viewer to engage in. ... For the body of work I'm going to be showing at the Arts Council, I specifically chose not to use canvas, and applied my techniques to everyday found objects that were discarded or seen as trash."

Arts Council will hold an opening reception from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday for Pfanstiel's solo exhibit, which will run through July 30, at 16 N. Spanish St.

Dave Pfanstiel's "The Fourth Night."Courtesy Dave Pfanstiel

Pfanstiel's art transcends formal limits.

"I work in stage and production at La Croix Church. I'm a visual artist by nature, I do installation work. I am a drummer; I was a professional musician and am still trying to be one, that's been for over 20 years now. So, in the art world I kind of do a little bit of everything — visual art, installation, physical space, you know, that's what I really enjoy doing. With the work I create in a two-dimensional world, what will be shown at the Arts Council, I want it to be more than just texture. I want you to want to feel the painting. It's more than just texture up there, I want you to get a sense of what I'm going through, or what I have the privilege of creating on behalf of someone else."

Pfanstiel remembered having a moment of epiphany after reading an article about art and what dawned on him.

"As artists, we get the opportunity to create out of something birthed inside of ourselves, or we get a chance to intake humanity. Artists have the privilege and the mandate of entering into culture and responding to that through the various mediums that we have."

Pfanstiel said the body of work scheduled for display at Arts Council falls into the latter category — it is work created for someone else, what Pfanstiel described as the "intake of humanity."

Alluding to a "heavy trauma situation," Pfanstiel explained he could not divulge specific details. After all, he suggested, the work of interpretation belongs to the viewer.