In Conversation: David Bromley’s Latest Exhibition Is All About Joy

The latest David Bromley exhibition has landed in Melbourne, and it’s in collaboration with Sesame Street. Bromley emerged as an artist in the 1980s and, over the past 40 years, his work has been exhibited in nearly every continent. In Sesame Street x David Bromley, he puts his twist on the beloved characters across more than 50 playful pieces of sculpture, ceramics, limited prints and collectibles.

To celebrate, Broadsheet Access has teamed up with Bromley to gift one lucky Access member an original $6500 canvas piece from the collection, bound to brighten your home.

Bromley reflects on the collection, his creative process and staying in the game.

David, this is such a fun exhibition. How did a collaboration with Sesame Street come about?
The exhibition was brought to life by art director and curator Eddie Zammit, who introduced me to Sesame Workshop, the global non-profit behind Sesame Street. When Eddie first introduced me to Sesame Workshop, I could immediately see the magic in bringing these beloved characters into my world. Eddie had this vision of merging my nostalgic style with the joy and colour of Sesame Street – and I’m so glad he did. It’s been a wonderful journey!

What are three words you’d use to describe Sesame Street x David Bromley?
Character, joy and texture.

You use a variety of mediums in the collection. Did you favour any in particular?
After 40 years of working in many mediums – including bronze, clay and metal – painting is always my number one. I did however enjoy, after shearing our alpacas, putting their fleece in big piles, bleaching it, and spraying them in the colours of the main Sesame Street characters. Then doing something very similar to the Sesame Street plushies, painting them in off-white enamel, then using oil paints to repaint them and making a little showcase of this mix of materials inside beautiful old French handblown glass cloches. I then added a transparent sticker of the character on the glass.

What’s your creative process like?
I always start my creative process with a period of exploration and experimentation. I’m not bound by guidelines, but rather I allow myself a period to just draw, paint, play, sculpt and be spontaneous. I find this period invaluable as I start to familiarise and immerse myself in a new creative world. I like to do a lot of research, but then use this information to pull out my own creative ideas. I really delved into bringing the world of Sesame Street into the world of Bromley. I am so thrilled with the new pieces in the exhibition – they’re the most exciting works of my career.

You mentioned you’ve been making art for more than 40 years. What motivates you to keep creating?
I need to work for my emotional and creative, rather manic, energies. And I need a vessel to be purposeful in life. My expectations of myself are high, and I put in long hours to achieve the outcomes in my head. I feel so blessed – after a childhood and early adulthood where I was very lost – to have mined a creative world living inside of me that I call my profession. This profession has taken me from feelings of extreme loneliness, confusion and inadequacy, to now feeling like the cat that got the cream. After 40 years, staying in the game is certainly a great motivation.

If you were a Sesame Street character, who would you be?
Cookie Monster! He’s easy to please – give him cookies and he’s happy. I’m a bit like that with food. I do love the scale of Big Bird and Mr Snuffleupagus too.

Become an Access member today, for your chance to win an original $6500 piece from the collection. And see the exhibition for yourself – Sesame Street x David Bromley is showing at Bromley Gallery in South Yarra until Sunday July 13.