Featured Artist James Moore

Using basic shapes, artist James Moore creates abstract figurative metal sculptures intended to spark the imagination. See his website to explore more of his work.

 

 

Our world is experiencing a degree of polarization that I haven’t seen before. There are any number of explanations for how we’ve reached this state, but I believe that what perpetuates it are the false narratives whose main characters are “Them” and “Us.”

 

 

I create art that offers a positive alternative to that narrative. My work explores the basic human needs we all share. By expressing those essential commonalities, I intend to expand our sense of connection and community.

 

 

Growing up in rural central California, I didn’t have access to museums or galleries. My earliest introduction to sculpture happened through books about ancient Greek sculpture, especially works from the Hellenistic period.

 

 

I was absolutely captivated by this use of the human figure as a visual language capable of conveying universal truths about the human condition. It had a permanent impact on me.

 

 

It was during this nascent period of my artistic life that I made a profound personal discovery. These ancient sculptures that were created by people who neither looked nor lived like me were expressing my own aspirations, hopes and fears.

 

 

With that realization, my world opened wide. I could no longer entertain the belief that anyone was completely separate or alien from me. Different? Yes. But not separate.

 

 

Throughout my early development as an artist, books continued to be my main source of artistic reference. Through them I was introduced to artists like Julio Gonzalez, Henry Moore and Isamu Noguchi. Each artist, though different from one another, conveyed a sense of informed simplicity. This concept is perhaps best described in the quote from Albert Einstein, “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.”

 

 

Allowing this principle to guide my compositions enables me to get to the heart of the message being conveyed. Equally important, it enables me to create space for the viewer to bring his or her own life experience to the artwork and by doing so, imagine their lives reflected in it.

 

 

My studio practice includes both residentially scaled sculpture and large-scale public sculpture. My residentially scaled sculpture lends itself to a personal, perhaps even intimate, interpretation. It connects universal themes such as “Balance,” “Self-Discovery” and “Possibility” to our shared basic human needs.

 

 

My public projects extend these themes by incorporating concepts and subject matter that’s specifically relevant to the communities and clients I work with. My list of public art clients includes the City of Palo Alto, California, the City of Avondale, Arizona, Foothill College and Hyatt House Hotel.

 

 

Whether working at a residential or public art scale, my goal is the same—to contribute something positive to the world that will enhance and expand our sense of connection and community.

 

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