Photo copyright John Reposa
James Payne
Isolation
2020, wood & metal pipe, 10’h x 10’w x 30’d
location: Shoreby Hill, 75-121 Conanicus Ave.
With thanks to Julie Brittain Swistak, Brittain Electric Inc, and Mark Swistak Jr., NorthWestern Mutual, for their sponsorship of this artwork
GPS: 41.49846, -71.3669
inquire regarding purchase of this artwork
Artist’s Statement & Biography
My name is James Payne. I'm a Vermont-based artist working in large scale abstract sculpture. At present, wood is my primary medium for big pieces.
I'm drawn towards both nature and technology. This dichotomy inspires my art to model shapes found in nature - curves, edges, and sharp corners.
I'm process-oriented and enjoy figuring out how to create art from industrial, found, and commodity materials. I may have an idea for a piece but then take weeks, months, or years to realize the design with a lot of experimentation and reflection along the way.
Within the period between the initial idea and finished creation of a larger or more complex work, experimental works and prototypes meant to prove a concept or pilot a process are created. Many of these intermediate works are interesting in their own right, independent of the final piece but forming part of the conceptual series.
I majored in art in college but then followed different paths, working in emergency medicine, search and rescue, and Internet technology. After a long hiatus from art I started creating very small sculptures about twenty years ago by cutting and bending credit cards rather than throwing them away.
My works over the past several years have been increasing in size and impact. My current focus is on large-scale swirl structures constructed from heavy wood beams. These works expand on themes from my work over the past several years around implying dynamic movement through static wood armature.