The Abstract Edge was the name of a major exhibition of Davidson's work that opened at the University of British Columbia's Museum of Anthropology and toured across Canada, concluding with the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa. This piece is excerpted from the catalogue, which accompanied the show. I'm at a crossroads right now where I've recycled the ideas of my teachers, of the old pieces, of the old examples I've been studying. My challenge is to go beyond those recycled ideas and create a new vocabulary for myself. The vocabulary I've been working with has come from the old pieces by Charles Edenshaw and other masters, it has come from my dad's teachings, from my grandfather's teachings, from Bill Reid's teachings. I'm continually challenging myself to expand from that knowledge. At first I thought I was pushing the art form. But I feel that's presumptuous - it's not up to me to say I'm doing that. I have years and years of experience in the art form, and now I'm experimenting to see how far I can push my own understanding. I feel that every artist reaches a point in their creative lifetime where they want to have their own story, their own signature. It took many years before I was able to actually feel that I was creating my own style. I still remember a spoon I engraved in 1974, where I felt for the first time I was creating something from my own experience. Once I learned the vocabulary of the art, it became my privilege and responsibility to create within those boundaries and to challenge them within the language. I would rather stay within those confines than step out of them.