Personal Statement

philosophy and inspiration

"A symbol has no innate power, its numinosity exists only in the emotions or unconscious of the individual."

Carl Gustav Jung

I am visually inspired by archetypical mandala as exemplified in many cultures such as East Indian, American Indian, Persian and Japanese. I especially love the patterns represented in many of the sacred or mythological designs and mathematical concepts of these various cultures. "It is felt that there are as many archetypes as there are recurring situations in life, that when a situation occurs that corresponds to a particular archetype, the archetype presses for completion like an instinctual drive..". Carl Gustav Jung

 

 

The Navajo sandpainting is especially important to me as a basis for the use of symmetry and balance. The Quadrant is numerically and visually paramount and is manifested in Fire, Air, Water and Earth.

the horned toad - a typical symbol

"Navajo religion holds that everything is composed of powerful forces. These forces are capable of good or evil and the balance between them is quite fine. If a balance is upset, even accidentally, some misfortune or even a disaster will be the result. Nature is balanced, it is in harmony, only man can upset the balance. Of the many, many Navajo deities only one, Changing Woman is constantly striving to enhance the good forces for the people. It was she who gave birth to the twins, Monster Slayer and Born of Water. These two Heroes or War Gods left evidence of their exploits that exist even today. The great lava flow near Grants, New Mexico, is the dried blood of a slain monster and the Shiprock formation southwest of the city of the same name is the remains of a giant man-eating eagle, etc. They and their mother succeeded in ridding Dinetah, the Navajo world, of all evil except Old Age, Poverty, Sickness and Death." (from: Legends in Sand- The Evolution of the Modern Navajo Sandpainting)

The mathematically intricate symmetrical patterns in Heriz Persian Design inspire mythological/spiritual cosmology (Nomadic and Islamic). The symbols in rug patterns invoke the spiritual connection of pattern to experience, of man to God. From this inspiration, I have produced image patterns that are specially designed for printing to silk substrate as well as canvas.

 

the computer

I am not afraid to use technology to explore my ideas. The recent surge in development of digital photography and graphics software provides a new perspective to art. I am simply endeavoring to combine my skills and philosophies.

I hold a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Fine Arts (1976) with specialty in Painting and Printmaking from Western State College, Gunnison, Colorado . My art history interests included a course on Indian Arts of North America (Including studies on the Navajo Creation Myth) and a graduate level course on the Renaissance . In 1985, I returned to academics to study Computer Science at the University of Southern Illinois. I received my Masters of Science in Computer Science degree in August of 1989, concentrating in Advanced Rendering Techniques and Parallel Processing. These topics are technically specific to software techniques for computer generated images and processing enhancement. My thesis was "Paralellization Methods for the Radiosity Process". Radiosity is a method of representing shadows and color exchange between object surfaces in a global graphical environment.

 

discovery

I have been working in software development for several years - including 9 and 1/2 years in Graphics with Hewlett Packard Company. In 1997, I started working with a digital camera while living in Stuttgart, Germany and found my inspiration for a very new and interesting type of printmaking.

My first exhibition was "one man show" at the Weissenberg Zentrum, Stuttgart that consisted of eleven EnCAD limited edition prints on satin paper. A second show followed at "Punto Fiso" - a gallery restaurant featuring Italian cuisine, garden, and monthly exhibitions of fine art.

When I returned to Colorado I began experimenting with different substrates - different papers, transparencies, silk and primarily canvas. I attended two day seminar on digital printmaking with Bonnie Lhotka of the Digital Atelier and learned interesting techniques with plaster and watercolor paper as well as custom substrates and layering materials. I have exhibited in several shows here in Colorado including 10 pieces at the Fort Collins Museum of Contemporary Art.

 

digital watercolors

Currently, I am working with "digital watercolors" that are printed on type C metallic photographic paper. I use computer software as my canvas, brushes and palate. By applying various photographic and artistic properties to the brushes and layers in the image I can produce what I call a "digital watercolor". In addition, I am executing images in oil on canvas and digitally printing silk paintings from patterns.

 

"Man needs to experience the god-image within himself and to feel its correspondence with the forms that his religion gives to it. If this does not happen there is a split in his nature; he may be outwardly civilized, but inwardly he is a barbarian ruled by an archaic god. " - Carl Gustav Jung.

 

contact me

I hope you enjoy this site. If you have any questions please e-mail me at:

james@duggerjam.com

thanks for viewing...

James