Artist Davina Semo’s Bells Are a Call to Action in the Wake of the Global Pandemic

Semo was commissioned by the Public Art Fund for what will be her most ambitious exhibition to date. She created five large-scale, fluorescent orange-pink bells, each one riddled with perforations that result in a collective harmony of different pitches—not unlike the cacophony that rang through New York’s neighborhoods every evening to honor health-care workers. The symphonic sculpture will be installed this summer at Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Pier 1.

“I didn’t predict a pandemic, but my goal was always to wake people up,” says Semo from her studio, where she has been working in isolation for the past few months. With a keen interest in politics and social affairs, Semo is motivated to spotlight pressing issues like climate change, inequality, and the fact that the COVID-19 crisis has so many people living on the edge. “They were things that seemed untenable, but during this time, the mainstream media is talking about them. It feels like there’s a possibility for change.” 

A trained sculptor who shows with San Francisco’s Jessica Silverman Gallery, Semo follows a unique process that involves a labor-intensive lost-wax method. She first sculpts a wax model, which is used to create a one-of-a-kind mold, then punctures it with a set of drilled holes, bringing light to the object’s interior and altering each bell’s appearance. “It’s a really meditative process,” she says. “Making the wax is a dance with the material.”

Experimenting with the different sounds was another important component of her work. “It’s an incredible experience when you ring a big bell and you feel it reverberate.”

With a penchant for heavy materials, Semo also creates brightly colored wall works—some are made with warped acrylic mirrors shot through with ball bearings to create a constellation effect; others utilize a curtain of painted chains. “There tends to be an industrial tone to the things I make, and I think that is about me wanting to be part of a powerful conversation,” says the artist. “I don’t think that soft things aren’t powerful, but I think I have a bit of that teenage rage still, a desire for change.” 

A version of this article first appeared in print in our 2020 Summer issue under the headline “Shape-Shifters.” Subscribe to the magazine.