David Svenson has been incorporating neon into his artwork since the 1980s, using glass and neon as the dominant material or to add subtle colored light to carved wood sculptures. He was inspired by the neon signs of Route 66 in his youth in Southern California and later witnessed the Northern Lights in Alaska while studying Tlingit art. In addition to his studio work, David teaches at the Academy of Art University and has taught internationally, and occasionally collaborates with Alaska Native totem carvers. His neon sculptures are a visual diary of his personal experiences and journey to spirituality rather than commercial advertising.

4. David Svenson has been incorporating neon into his work since
the mid-1980s. In some works the glass and neon is the
dominant material, in others these elements are used with carved
wood or other sculptural materials to lend the works a subtle glow
of colored light.
David spent his youth amongst the orange groves of Southern
California, within shouting distance of the historic neon signage of
State Route 66, which left an indelible impression of multicolored
light isolated by the darkness of the light. David left California to
study Tlingit art and culture in Alaska, and witnessed breathtaking
displays of light by the Aurora Borealis.
In addition to working in is studio, David also teaches at the
Academy of Art University in San Francisco, and has taught
classes at the Pilchuck Glass School, Corning Museum of Glass,
Urban Glass and at international workshops, and he works
periodically with a team of Alaska Native totem carvers.
David says, “I am forever in debt to the sign industry for
technilogical advances as well as supplies, but the work I do is
far from advertising and purely motivated by self-expression. My
expressions are a visual diary of growing up with heroes,
fantasies, fear, humor and a path to spirituality and cultural
enlightenment.”