When I sat down with David Altmejd in his home studio in Los Angeles this past winter, I was trying to understand how a man of such calm demeanor could create some of the most exhilarating, bizarre, grotesque and beautifully fascinating work of the 21st century. That isn’t hyperbole and it doesn’t even do the work justice. We discussed in detail this idea of arranging chaos, re-ordering our expectations of not only sculpture but of the limits of imagination. One of the things he told that hit so simply was how he let something “else” takeover in the creative process, as he noted “That's what my intention is, to actually let something else take control.”

A part of this interview that was not included was a discussion about David’s cat. He remarked how refreshing the feline energy has been, a helpful barometer for him as he begins to navigate through long hours in the studio. Not to mention his personality of hiding out for months while building the works. These are the parts of the artist’s story that are rarely seen. The cat greeted us as we walked back to his home studio and immediately became a mascot of the conversation. “The cat came into my life a few years ago,” David said, “right at the moment where I became aware of the fact that I didn’t want to control everything, didn’t want everything to revolve around me. And I was able to actually appreciate the fact that my cat decides when it wants affection and attention.” 

Altmejd will return home to Montreal this week in Agora, a showing at Galerie de l’UQAM that spans over 25 years of his career, highlighted by 30 heads and busts. It feels like the right time his work is looked in this context, especially with the overwhelming emergence of AI technology and biological destruction, political turmoil, and conversations about our bodies and gender identity. It has always seemed Altmejd has been at the forefront, knowingly or unknowingly, to the collective metamorphosis we are experiencing as a species, pushing ourselves to the limits of both what is recognizable and what is possible. As Louise Déry, curator of Agora notes, “This agora of figures in ancient or futuristic, archetypal or surrealist, amusing or provocative styles forms a rich hybridization of human and non-human.”

Somewhere here, I’m still just thinking about the cat. The cat making a decision about when and where it needs affection, attention. It’s in control, and Altmejd is okay with that. —Evan Pricco

Subscribe to read our interview with David Altmejd from The Unibrow Issue 01. His show at Galerie de l’UQAM in Montreal is on view November 7, 2025 - January 17, 2026.

Above image: David Altmejd, Shaman, 2023, epoxy clay, epoxy gel, expanding foam, glass eyes, acrylic paint, quartz crystals, human hair, glassrhinestones, pencil, steel, concrete, and resin, 87,6 x 41,9 x 41,9 cm. © David Altmejd