@connollyjames_

5/5/2017

0404Instagram: @connollyjames_ Twitter: @connollyjames_ Website: www.connollyjames.com

1. What's your story? Where are you from?

I grew up in London surrounded by amazing art galleries and some of the world’s best art schools. But I chose to study in Norwich, a small city in East England, famous for making mustard. I now live in New York. Mustard isn’t as good here. jamesconnolly_6

2. Tell us about your aesthetic.

I enjoy playing with ambiguous images and humour in my work. Visually, I like to combine imagery in the same way a collage artist would, but using paint.

3. What is your favourite medium and why?

I love using acrylics. So many of the images we see today are viewed flat on a screen, so I find it refreshing to see the textural qualities and imperfections of a painted image. With acrylics, there’s an immediacy that you don’t get with oils, which allows me to experiment more.

4. What is your artistic process like?

I like to let ideas sit for a while. When I have something I think is worth pursuing I’ll lock myself away to create it. Then I’ll stare at it for hours to see if it’s any good. What I really love about the process is the focus required to make something. It allows me to really switch off from the world.

5. Who and/or what inspires your work?

A big inspiration for me is our obsession with consumerism. I’m fascinated with our quest and consumption of objects. This was my starting point for my paintings on old record covers. I would find these stacks of unwanted records in junk shops the world over. No longer fashionable, they were left to gather dust. So I began to give them new life.

6. What role does art play in your life? How does it change the way you view the world?

Often, I find people’s interpretation of art more interesting than the art itself. I think that’s why art is important. It gives us space to create our own meaning. jamesconnolly_6_1

7. Where did you study?

Norwich School of Art.

8. Where do you see yourself in five years? Working in an agency?

Working for an agency or clients is a great way to make a living with your art. But Illustrating an advert for cough syrup will never be as rewarding as pursuing your own path. I think it’s important to strike a balance between commercial and personal projects.

9. What about in ten?

Hopefully, still answering questions about my work.

10. What do you hope to achieve with your art?

I never create work to elicit a specific emotional reaction. I tend not to title my work because I want people to take it at face value and project their own thoughts. But, if there’s one thing I hope to achieve, it’s to entertain. jamesconnolly_2