Featured Artist: James Cooper (Bermuda Biennial 2014: A View From the Edge)

My work deals with the inherent impermanence of all human creations. I use common materials to make sculptures that very often have short lives. In the most basic of terms, how I work is that I look at my life, its component parts, my reactions to them, and then I make sculptures and photographs that help me better understand my experiences and feelings. Underlying much of my work is a desire to present a feeling of freedom, of new possibilities.

I am increasingly interested in the sculptural potential of prints and I have been exploring unconventional methods of displaying photographs.

In this series, I am removing sections of the images directly relating to the horizon, which draws attention to the horizon line as both a graphic and psychological element. The idea of peeling back the horizon to expose the wall behind the image enhances the idea that the horizon is a psychological barrier all 'islanders' wrestle with on some level or other. 

Scale is important in my work. Photography is an increasingly flexible medium, due in part to printing technology and digital platforms for viewing images. The same picture can be experienced on a cellphone or on a side of a building. How I choose to display my work and at what scale can change the reaction to it. For this series there were several important considerations. As I am cutting and pinning the prints, it was important to retain a feeling of delicacy while also taking into account the effects of gravity on a larger cut-out, knowing too that they will be in the Bermuda National Gallery in a large open space.

For more information, please visit: www.bermudanationalgallery.com