David Habben has filled sketchbook after sketchbook with what he calls his “strange doodles”—curious characters and creatures that come to life in his highly detailed ballpoint and watercolor pencil drawings. But his work has simultaneously evolved in another direction. Two years ago, he began collaborating with the University of Utah’s School of Dance program, where he embraced a new creative dialogue. Gaining inspiration from the dancers’ movement, he created a series of abstract paintings meant to invoke the energy, power and flow of what he was witnessing. Like the movement of the dancers, each rapid brushstroke was to be deliberate and thoughtful—to be placed specifically somewhere rather than anywhere. You can experience Habben’s process firsthand and be directly involved in the process of creating work displayed in Flow by taking Flow: The Workshop.

David Habben: Flow at the Kimball Art Center will unite the artist’s two creative modes—the personal one within the pages of his sketchbooks, and the collaborative one of his Be Somewhere series. Here, the abstract compositions of Be Somewhere—work that documents time, place and energy—become the base for a new story, oftentimes with the wit and humor that is characteristic of his sketches.

Join us on Friday, December 15, for a unique performance in which Habben will be joined by dancers from the Duhaime Movement Project. While watching them perform, Habben will create a new large-scale painting. This newly-created piece will be presented alongside Habben’s original sketchbooks and captivating compositions that bring these two worlds together. Please RSVP here. 

David “HABBENINK” Habben is an award-winning artist and illustrator based in Salt Lake City, Utah. In addition to his fine art practice, his work can be found in everything from children’s books to editorial illustrations for The Wall Street Journal, as well as public murals, advertising campaigns and even snowboards for Rossignol. Habben received his BFA in Illustration from Brigham Young University in 2006 and his MFA in Studio Art from the University of Utah in 2017. This year, his work was a winning entry for Creative Quarterly Issue 49 in Illustration and his characters now fill the pages of his two newly-published coloring books from Page Street Publishing, The Search for the Lightbulb Burglar and The Explorer’s Journey.