Hello! My name is James. I am an artist, curator, teacher and amateur gardener based in Wagga Wagga, NSW. I’m a lecturer in photography at Charles Sturt University, where I am also the Director of the H.R Gallop Gallery.
My practice is ecological in flavour; promoting the integration of ecological thinking into my work, art, life, and community.
I work with photography in it’s expanded form, incorporating experimental and generative processes, collaboration, installation, and photobooks. My work is an ongoing critique of the enduring aesthetic traditions of Colonialism, Patriarchy and Capitalism. Recognising that I am both a beneficiary and one deeply implicated in the endurance of these systems, I use my practice to stay with and explore this trouble. I seek to muddy the waters of Western dualistic thinking to explore the more complex and interrelated realities of the Anthropocene.
More broadly, I am a passionate advocate for the development, promotion, and support of professional art practice in regional areas.
I have presented exhibitions, public programs and community workshops at Wagga Wagga Art Gallery (2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019), Broken Hill Art Exchange (2015, 2018), Broken Hill Regional Art Gallery (2017), the Western Plains Cultural Centre (2018) and Murray Art Museum Albury (2018). I have also presented work at BLINDSIDE in Melbourne (2016), Perth Centre for Photography (2017), and Firstdraft, Sydney (2018).
I have earned recognition in the form of numerous awards, prizes and grants, including Project Funding (2020), Artist Support Funding (2018) and a Young Regional Artist Scholarship (2015) from Create NSW. I was a finalist in the Bowness Photography Prize (2019), The National Photography Prize (2018) and was named the NSW/ACT Young Achiever of the Year (Arts) in 2016.
C/V
Solo Exhibitions
2018 – Rambunctious Garden, Firstdraft, Sydney, NSW
2018 – Working Within, Western Plains Cultural Centre, Dubbo, NSW
2017 – Reciprocity, Wagga Wagga Art Gallery, NSW
2017 – Slow Documents, Broken Hill Regional Art Gallery, NSW
2016 – Traces of Shadow and Light, E3 art space, Wagga Wagga Art gallery, NSW
2014 – A New Dialectic, ACME Art Studios, Wilmington NC, USA
2013 – Trepidation: VOID, E3 art space, Wagga Wagga Art gallery, NSW
Group / Collaborative Projects
2019 – Hill End Residency, Hill End, NSW (with Jacob Raupach)
2019 – Bowness Photography Prize, Monash Gallery of Art, VIC
2019 – On the Origins of Capital, Wagga Wagga Art Gallery (with Jacob Raupach & Felix Wilson)
2019 – Australia & New Zealand Photobook Award, Various Int. Venues
2018 – ƒ.11: Photography Graduates from Charles Sturt University 2008-2018, Wagga Wagga Art Gallery, NSW (Curator)
2018 – National Photography Prize, MAMA, Albury, NSW
2018 – Push the Medium, Narrandera Arts Centre, Narrandera, NSW
2017 – Contemporary Landscape in Photography Prize, Perth Centre for Photography, WA
2016 – Here in the Undergrowth, BLINDSIDE, Melbourne, VIC (with Jacob Raupach)
2016 – Land Dialogues, Wagga Wagga Art Gallery, NSW (Artist and Curator)
2016 – Enlighten, Wagga Wagga City Council Public Arts Program (Produced with Andrew Hagan)
2015 – SUN PRINTS, Studio3 Gallery, Broken Hill Art Exchange, Broken Hill, NSW
2015 – Everyday Politics, Upper Waiting Hall, House of Commons, London, UK
2015 – Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition, Somerset House, London, UK
2014 – CCP Salon, Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne, VIC
2014 – Unnatural Futures, Plimsoll Gallery, University of Tasmania, Hobart
2014 – Dualisms, H.R. Gallop Gallery, Wagga Wagga, NSW (with Jacob Raupach)
2013 – Virtual Reality Project, Underbelly Arts Festival, Sydney, NSW
2012 – Six Degrees, The Fitzmaurice Street Gallery, Wagga Wagga, NSW
Prizes | Awards | Grants
2019 – Finalist, Bowness Photography Prize, Monash Gallery of Art, VIC.
2019 – Finalist, Australia & New Zealand Photobook Award 2018 (Image Ecologies)
2018 – Recipient. Artists Support Grant, Create NSW
2017 – Joint Recipient. Wagga Wagga City Council Arts and Cultural Grant (with Jacob Raupach)
2016 – Recipient. Australian Artists Grant, NAVA
2016 – Winner. NSW/ACT Young Achiever of the Year Awards – Arts & Fashion Award
2015 – Recipient. Young Regional Arts Scholarship from Create NSW
2016 – Finalist. Australian Photobook of the Year Awards (Limits to Growth)
2015 –Recipient. Wagga Wagga City Council Arts and Cultural Grant
2015 – Finalist. Sony World Photography Organisation Student Focus Prize, London, UK
2014 – Artist in Residence. Broken Hill Arts Exchange, Broken Hill, NSW
2014 – Winner. Environmental Image Salon Prize, Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne, VIC
2014 –Recipient. Australian Postgraduate Award for Doctoral Studies, CSU
Education
2017 – Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW | (Thesis) |
2013 – Bachelor of Visual and Performing Arts (Honours 1st Class), Charles Sturt University, Wagga, NSW
2012 – Bachelor of Arts (Photography)( with distinction), Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW, Aus
2011 – Studio Art/Art History Study (12 Month International Exchange Program), UNCW, Wilmington, NC, USA
Employment
2017 – Lecturer in Photography, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW, AUS
2016 – Studio Supervisor, THE ART FACTORY, Wagga Wagga, NSW, AUS
2013 – Gallery Technician, Wagga Wagga Art Gallery, NSW, AUS
2013 – Tutor in Photography and Art History, Charles Sturt University, NSW, AUS
2011 – Assistant at the Art Gallery at University of North Carolina, Wilmington, USA