STATEMENT
Muhammad Dawud is a multidisciplinary artist whose work bridges memory, structure, and sound. Born in East Saint Louis, Illinois and raised in Texas, he creates visual and spatial narratives rooted in the lived experiences of community, transformation, and identity. His practice draws from a lifetime of music, photography, and constructed environments, bringing together architecture, sculpture, and sonic composition as equal partners in dynamic storytelling.
Dawud’s early paths as a United States Marine and journalist sharpened his way of seeing. They taught him to read landscapes like text, to observe the design of power, and to locate the human stories that exist inside every structure. That foundation continues to guide his approach to art, where meaning emerges through the balance of precision and intuition.
The work often speaks to movement: migration across cities, shifts in cultural memory, the internal journeys of self-definition. Whether composing installations, public artworks, or intimate visual pieces, Dawud explores how space can shape belonging and how creativity can restore what history attempts to erase.
He views art as both construction and innovation. His materials honor what is found, reassembled, and reclaimed. His process invites collaboration and community stewardship, reinforcing his belief that art lives most fully when it is accessible and shared.
Dawud continues to expand his practice through the study of Landscape Architecture at the University of Texas at Arlington. His current research considers how built environments can center healing, heritage, and futures not yet realized.
Notable Commissions:
- (2021) Arlington Museum of Art, Arlington Parks & Recreation Department, The Star of Texas Public Art Project.
- (2017) Arlington Museum of Art, Arlington Parks & Recreation Department, The Star of Texas Public Art Project.
- (2016) Texas State Capitol, House Chamber Christmas Tree.
- (2015) Arlington Museum of Art, Arlington Parks & Recreation Department, The Star of Texas Public Art Project.
