A Conversation With Xuechen Wang
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A Conversation with James Porschen
Shifting the Vantage Point
James Porschen—born in 1983 in Santa Monica, California, residing and working in Austin, Texas—is an American artist occupied with photography and painting, blending reality and abstraction to unravel the underlying essence of nature and reveal its sublime reflections. One could argue that his art serves as an intricate meditation on the delicate equilibrium between nature’s vehement force and tender fragility, evoking a profound sense of introspection. Today, we have the privilege of conversing with James Porschen, delving into the artist’s background, sources of inspiration, and his reflection on art and its ubiquitous relation to our natural environment.
SW: Dear James Porschen, we are delighted to have you. Let us start with the beginning; could you share the genesis of your artistic journey?
JP: Since childhood, I’ve used art to understand and interpret my reality. An artistic journey is a lifestyle; like any good journey, the environments and experiences should change with the passing miles. My travels that have defined my art stem heavily from the American West. I have a deep connection to this incredible landscape, especially the deserts. A desert is not a landscape whose profound beauty is immediate but must be earned by slowing down and quieting the mind.
SW: Within your mature oeuvre, one can distinguish three different types of work; the Neonscapes, Seismic shifts, and, most recently, your Earthworks. Could you expand on how these various series of works came about?
JP: My vision started to present itself in Seismic shift. It was here I began to see how reality could be bent to present another vision of the world around us. With the removal of a horizon line, the picture plane became a flattened image reminiscent of Abstract Expressionism. This exploration led to questioning what a photograph represents and how one could distance the geography of a location from the image itself. In Neonscapes, I found that a neon tube transforms how the viewer relates to the photograph turning it into a sculptural abstraction and pushing it beyond the idea of place. My fascination with an all-encompassing composition speaks of the whole over singularity. This concept is explored further in my Earthworks series.
SW: When it comes to sources of inspiration, nature is, of course, the most apparent and timeless source of inspiration. However, considering your background in philosophy, ancient ways of thinking have also nurtured your artistic practice.
JP: I’m humbled and inspired by many great minds that have spoken wisdom through the ages. These three men can articulate my aspirations better than I ever could. “Be as you wish to seem,” ipse dixit Socrates; “Contemplation is the highest form of activity,” courtesy of Aristotle; and “We have art in order to not die from the truth,” formulated by Nietzsche.
SW: One could also find art historical references and sources of inspiration throughout your work—for instance, the horizontal bands in your Neonscapes blending landscape painting with abstract painting. What is the story and process behind these visually captivating pictures?
JP: We all cook from the same ingredients but have a vast array of recipes that have yet to be imagined. Minimalism, Color Field Painting, and Abstract Expressionism have profoundly affected my visual acuity. Regarding the process, it’s more of a buy-the-ticket, take-the-ride mentality. I felt like hanging out of a doorless Cessna to view an incredible phenomenon where halobacterium and saltwater conspire to create psychedelic art—the colors are naturally occurring in Neonscapes. My subconscious blended historical art references into my intuitional photographic compositions.
SW: Fine art photography is arguably most present in the Seismic shift prints. Feel free to expand on this series and discuss your personal relationship with the medium in question.
JP: Seismic shift focuses on breaking down the inherent relationship between vision and reality. I was inspired by the 1960s counterculture film Blow Up by Michelangelo Antonioni. In this film, a 35mm negative is continually enlarged to the point of blurring reality and fiction. It defined perfectly how I view photography. Seismic shift explores the natural world and how our preconceived notions and interpretations skew the actual image. Shifting the vantage point, one may view the landscape anew.
SW: By doing so, we arrive at the third and most recent series, the Earthworks. Before we dive into the various analogies that seem to emerge almost instantly when it comes to climate art, what is the story behind the technique of these mixed media tableaus in which predominantly the materiality appears to stand out at first glance?
JP: In Earthworks, I was inspired by how I could take the natural environment into the constructed city. In order to accomplish this, I started with organic materials and experimented to find a way of creation that allows growth instinctively. I had to embrace the idea of purposelessness just as a tree does not ask to grow, yet it miraculously does. I felt it was important to start with control but finish with a submission. This brought me down a path more attuned toward ceramics than painting, in which the final product is determined by outside influences, in my case, the dance of water and sun.
SW: Very often, art related to ecological issues, climate change, and environmental awareness can be very unilateral and easy to consume. Yet, in a sense, your art does not directly convey a clear and rigid message, narrative, or opinion—it is more subtle, indirect, and thus multi-dimensional. As a result, the viewer has to rely on their own introspective experience of the artwork instead of a pre-imposed experience. Could you expand on this notion of introspection in the experience and interpretation of your work?
JP: Abstraction and lack of direct narratives naturally produce greater subjectivity. The goal is to focus on subtle anchors where the viewer can create their own conclusions while still reaching the goals the artwork intends to fulfill.
SW: How do you see your art contributing to the ongoing dialogue of humanity’s relationship with the natural environment, and what connections do you draw between your work and historical depictions of nature in art—particularly climate art in recent art history?
JP: When we place an item in a white space—be it a museum, gallery, or white wall of a home—we create an opportunity for exploration. Suddenly the banal can become inspiring. Possibly a representation of cracked earth can promote a conversation about water conservation or a desire to take a hike. The more we surround ourselves with the natural world, be it plants on a windowsill, a landscape painting in a living room, or beach pebbles on a mantel, the greater respect we gain and advocate for its protection.
My work has been inspired by historical depictions from cave art to Dutch landscape painting to 1970s Land Art. I would be remiss not to mention the importance of landscape photography from its conception to the F64 group to the New Topographics movement and the Dusseldorf school. I find a connection to contemporary climate art with my use of sustainable materials and a desire to bring the natural world into the constructed reality.
SW: How has this profound relationship with nature affected your lifestyle and personal commitment to sustainability in everyday living?
JP: There are tremendous benefits that come from the now old adage of reduce, reuse, and recycle. I try to minimize the adverse effects of my art by upcycling canvases when available, using organic canvas when not, working with natural earth pigments and glues, and reusing boxes and found wood to create the dimensionality present in my Earthworks.
SW: Are there any forthcoming projects you want to share with us?
JP: I’ve only scratched the surface with my Earthworks.
SW: Thank you so much for your time. It was a true pleasure to have you.
JP: Thank you for the thought engaging questions.
Last Updated on October 9, 2024
Sylvia Walker
Sylvia Walker (b. 1986, US) is an art historian, essayist, art critic, and curator. After contributing to numerous publications, and curating exhibitions in the United States of America and beyond, she currently works as the assistant director of Contemporary Art Issue (CAI).
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