Artist's Statement: As I continue to push my work in assemblage, I see that my dogmatic avoidance of some of the medium's cliches ironically brings me full circle into confrontation with them; like frantically fleeing a bear in the woods and, Looney-Tunes style, running up on it again. So, I've come to embrace my phobia of Cornell-like shadow boxes, though for now cannot eschew equally ubiquitous doll parts, because they serve as yeoman stunt doubles in the portrayal of the human
condition at the core of all my work. The same goes for my almost exclusive reliance on aged and tarnished objects of every kind – I may always be drawn to their poetry and incorporate them into my sculptures, solely for reasons of beauty. It becomes apparent, then, that I can't fully measure my work against other's, or make forward progress while continuously looking behind. It's a cliche in itself, but my most authentic expression must in the end emanate mostly from inside of me.
Contact: jamesmichael
(at)jamesmichaelstarr.com