jamesroperart

[jamesroperart]

'Abundantia' - acrylic on canvas - 65cm x 66cm - 2015

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jamesroperart.com

[jamesroperart]

'Prima Materia III' - digital collage⠀

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jamesroperart.com

[jamesroperart]

I'm fascinated by cultural narratives as defined by TV and film. These mediums act in much the same way as ancient storytellers narrating the myths of their tribes to the surrounding village. The glowing embers of a communal fire now being replaced by the soft blue glow of our flat screen TVs.

These myths weren't just entertainment to be binged on though, they were imbued with information about the very workings of both our external and internal worlds. ⠀

As an example of how deep these stories go we can look to research into our evolutionary past. Primatologists have discovered that monkeys have three seperate calls for warning other monkeys about incoming predators. The first is for a threat from the ground, most likely a snake🐍 The second is for a threat from within the trees, usually a large cat 🐅 The third is for a threat from above the tree canopy, a bird of prey 🦅 And what do you get when you combine all three of these animals together? The ultimate threat and the archetypal monster of mythic stories across the globe: A dragon 🐉

I've always been interested in looking beyond the surface of our everyday awareness of the world and the underlying mechanisms that create what we percieve. Within 'The Inscending Spiral' series I chose to depict this 'lifting of the veil' by incorporating green-screen, 3D imaging and motion capture patterns as recurring motifs, to reflect how the story of 'The Inscending Spiral' was partly about the illusiory nature of movie making. 'Solve et Coagula' depicts this movie magic as if it were a shamanic conjuring from beyond the veil, bridging our modern day storytelling methods with it's ancient tribal roots.

'Solve et Coagula'

Signed limited edition of 20

Embossed with unique artists stamp

Image size: 43cm x 27cm

Paper size: 52cm x 35cm

👉https://bit.ly/inscendprints

[jamesroperart]

The imagery within 'The Inscending Spiral' originated from an unfinished screenplay I had started writing in 2005. While not making artwork I've spent many hours writing scripts, coming up with numerous characters and plot structures, as a way of expressing ideas that wouldn't quite fit into my paintings. In fact, had I not been an artist chances are I would have gone into film.

The Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotoar is the most notable example of how the spiral acts as a symbolic representation of the Hero's Journey. It appears as the very setting of the story itself, the labyrinth. Unlike a maze, which has various dead ends, a labyrinth has only one pathway that spirals in towards the centre and back out. This image of the spiral labyrinth is hidden throughout 'The Inscending Spiral' series of drawings 😉🔎

After trying to develop various film projects over the years I slowly realised I could never fully commit to the amount of time it took to write, fund, produce and distribute, even a short film, to the standard I wanted. The one short I was involved in writing and producing in 2008 was incredibly rewarding (we were even nominated for a Vimeo Award!), but making my artwork alone is a very time intensive job, so I eventually had to let go of my dream of being able to pursue filmmaking.

So instead I decided to use the screenplay of 'The Inscending Spiral' as a document from which to extract and explore themes and ideas, not in film, but through drawing, installation, video art and painting.

Between 2012 and 2015 I worked predominantly on these series of drawings. They would form the basis of my first solo show at @mirusgallery San Francisco, in 2014.

This drawing 'Mise en abyme' was directly influenced by the Hitchcock classic 'Vertigo' and it's prominent use of the spiral motif as a symbolic representation of the decent into madness, a theme I'd explored within 'The Inscending Spiral'. Mirus Gallery was also very near to the film locations of 'Vertigo' which was a nice bit of syncronicity!

Embossed with unique artists

'Mise en abyme'

Signed limited edition of 20

58cm x 51cm

Link to purchase: http://bit.ly/inscendprints

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[jamesroperart]

New limited edition prints from 'The Inscending Spiral' series now available. 25% off with code: INSIDE25

https://jamesroperart.store/collections/the-inscending-spiral

[jamesroperart]

'Metanoia I' - 100x 140cm - oil on canvas

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[jamesroperart]

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[jamesroperart]

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[jamesroperart]

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[jamesroperart]

🌀 To paraphrase Carl Jung, "dreams are to the individual what myth is to the collective”.

Myth is essentially our culture’s ‘operating system’. Just as computers have an operating system to manage information on a hard drive, dreams and myth codify the workings of our psyche. Jung referred to myth as the 'collective unconscious'. ⠀

Our myths, in essence the stories we tell each other, shape our culture. In the same way our own internal narratives - the mental stories that we repeat to ourselves about who we are and what we do - can have a profound impact on the way we understand and conduct our lives.

Mental health issues such as depression and PTSD often occur due to negative narrative structures in the mind.

The disruption or rewriting of these harmful narratives is something that can be achieved through talking therapies including psychoanalysis and CBT. But as with my own journey in healing a severe bout of depression, it was only through the therapeutic use of psychedelics that I was able to fully achieve this. Just as dreams do, psychedelics can offer a profound insight into the way our brains process the world.

This is powerfully illustrated in the recent documentary 'Trip of Compassion'. The film tracks three individuals who are cured of PTSD through the clinically controlled therapeutic use of MDMA (ecstasy). One participant says, 'I felt like I went through 15 years of psychological therapy in one night'.

This is a groundbreaking area of research I have chosen to support given my own first hand experience. I will be donating a percentage of the profits from all prints in the Chakra series to the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). For more info visit maps.org

This print depicts ajna, more commonly known as the third eye, the chakra through which we perceive our dreams. 'Ajna' can be purchased from my online store, now with 25% off with discount code INSIDE25

Link to purchase 👉 http://bit.ly/omprint

[jamesroperart]

Detail of 'Brainwasher' - acrylic on canvas - 100cm x 100cm - 2010

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jamesroperart.com

[jamesroperart]

Imaginal Cells No.46 - digital collage⠀

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[jamesroperart]

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Imaginal Cells No.28 - digital collage⠀

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[jamesroperart]

Picasso was a womanizer. Pollock was a drunk. Van Gogh died alone and penniless. Warhol was obsessed with fame. Great artists? Of course. But they were never role models to aspire to. Not for me anyway. Looking at how they lived, beyond the canvas, left me confused and uncertain of what it was I needed to do and be, for me to make it as an artist.

My art school tutors may have given me the much needed freedom to express myself, but that wasn't nearly enough to help me become the artist I am today. The artwork seemed to be their singular concern, not once was I informed about how to talk with potential collectors, fill in my tax self-assessment, build a website, produce prints, or even deal with the mental health issues that tend to come hand in hand with painting in a studio, on your own, for numerous hours on end. Knowledge about what it truly involves to be an artist, not just how to make art.⠀

Art school to me felt like a tired ghost of the YBA model that was developed at Goldsmiths in the late 80's. The dopamine hit of novelty seeking that is postmodernism was the go to style/non-style of choice. It seemed progressive on the surface, but for all it's interesting twists and provocations I eventually came to view it as a slow slide into artistic navel-gazing nihilism. Art about art about art about art.....

During that period I was also delving into Jungian psychology for the first time. It was confusing to read about such a vast and concise description of the human "operating system" through myth, psychoanalysis and cultural theory, while also being exposed to its opposite, the incendiary world of contemporary art. A place where culture is completely up for grabs, irony and cynicism proud badges to be worn at all times and deep rooted symbolic meaning all but dismissed. It was the archetypal Trickster energy at its best, very much needed in any society, but not something I could build a life upon.⠀

I decided to aim my own artistic pursuits in the exact opposite direction of what was going on around me. I attempted to produce beautiful, colourful, commercially viable artwork (heaven forbid 🧐) about psychology, meaning and spirituality. With not a hint of cynicism or irony (which I later discovered can often be ways in which the psyche guards itself from deeper underlying emotions). This paradox of elements has formed the basis of my work ever since.⠀

I'm writing this because I've recently become part of a mentorship programme. I now feel the need to give to others what was sorely missing on my own journey. A sense of structure, transparency, knowledge, not just about how to make art but also holistic ways of working as an artist. After all, I always thought the art school tutorial was the closest thing to seeing a therapist there was. It seemed to me that the delving into our psyches to dredge out new ideas for artwork could have been put to better use i.e. to improve our lives, not just our art.

The dramatic lives of famous art world archetypes, such as Basquiat, Van Gogh and Pollock may be fascinating, but we have to be careful what narratives we choose to input into our psyches. These stories shape the structure of our perception, they start to unconsciously define what 'the norm' actually is. These dramas may be interesting to watch, but to live out?

After much personal trial and error I now strive to be just as skillful and creative in all areas of my life, not just my art. If that spreading of my energy means I don't reach the heights of Pollock or Rothko, so be it, at least I know I wont die miserable and alone. I believe it's time to displace those tired old archetypes with a set of holistic ideas about what it is to live an artful life. After all, living a healthy fulfilling life is a lot more personally rewarding than a posthumus Tate Modern retrospective.

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Have you had similar experiences of art school? Disagree with anything I've said? Let me know in the comments below! 👇💚

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[jamesroperart]

'Prima Materia II' - digital collage⠀

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[jamesroperart]

This is a sneak peak at how I'm creating the 'Prima Materia' series. I'll be posting the finished piece tomorrow, and from that you'll be able to see how much I alter, add, change, subtract etc. It is essentially no different from real life cut and paste collage, but with a lot more flexibility. The process for making my 'Imaginal Cells' and 'Metanoia' compositions is fairly similar but with the added elements of blurring, inverting, multiple layer effects and more distortion #hypercollage. Eventually I'd like to produce this work in 3D, in either augmented or virtual reality so the viewer can walk around and through the work #hypersculpture. But that would mean a working knowledge of Cinema 4D modeling and there's only so much time in the day! Collab anyone? 💫🙌😄

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[jamesroperart]

The inspiration for these little yellow sparks of energy in 'Ataxic Reversal' came from Kanada's motorbike in Akira ⚡⚡⚡ Detail of 'Ataxic Reversal' - acrylic on canvas -118cm x 100cm - 2008

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