Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Beauty born of brains and bronze
Student’s sideline impresses the art world
“THERE is a tipping point in the sculpting process where I stop thinking about the sculpture as clay and start thinking about it as a person,” said James Cook, an artist with a passion for bronze figurative sculpture.
The 22-year-old artist grew up in Durban, where he attended Thomas More College. He is doing a business science degree at UCT.
Cook discovered the depths of art through his father.
“When I was younger, my father used to spend hours drawing with me every weekend. I would watch him sketch African animals and then I would copy his drawings. He taught me how to use shading and perspective to create the illusion of depth. I remember the excitement of planning a new drawing together and then buying the necessary art supplies.”
Cook created his first sculpture at the age of 15 for a school art project after being inspired by French artist, Philippe Faraut.
“He creates realistic clay busts that are very expressive. He inspired my current objective of eliciting emotion through the universal language of expression. I find it a lot easier to think in 3D so I was able to produce a realistic bust for my project relatively easily,” he said.
Cook’s most memorable sale was to his old school, Thomas More College. “The idea that my work is displayed in a public space is deeply satisfying,” he said.
Being a university student means balancing reality with art. “It can become very difficult to concentrate on university work when I am mentally altering my sculptures. I can stand up from my desk to quickly make a small change to my sculpture only to sit back down three hours later.”
Cook admits to having “a bit of an obsessive personality” and can work on a sculpture for hours on end. “Sometimes I have to be reminded to eat,” he said. “However, having a creative outlet helps me handle the pressure of a commerce degree.”
“Sculpting is my passion, not my profession,” said Cook, allowing him to be free of the commercial constraints that hold back many artists.
“I am free to create art that I love rather than always considering what will sell well. While it is nice to make money from my passion, I am more interested in sharing my art with the world. I have made a conscious decision to sculpt the human form rather than following the significantly more lucrative path of African animals,” he said.
There is no particular source for his inspiration: “Unique ideas are not created in a vacuum but rather from linking diverse information together. The human mind is amazing in that it can work on problems subconsciously. I often experience eureka moments after subconsciously connecting the dots between various sources of information.”
Finding grounding as an artist, Cook made the most of entering competitions for his artwork while still in school to gain exposure.
“I started taking my art seriously after my gallery proposals started being accepted.
“I have exhibited my work at the Palette Art Gallery in Stellenbosch and the Imbizo gallery in Ballito. My most recent exhibition was at the Johannesburg SAADA (South African Antique, Art and Design Association) Expo about two weeks ago.”
The most rewarding aspect of being a sculptor is seeing his pieces come to life: “All sculptures go through an initial awkward stage while the basic forms are being built up. However, there is an exhilarating moment when I am blocking out the facial features where the sculpture seems to come to life.
“Our natural ability to read facial expressions causes a small part of us to believe that an inanimate clay object is actually feeling emotion.”
As for his future, Cook said: “I aim to go beyond only creating visually appealing artwork by incorporating layers of meaning into my sculptures.
“I am currently experimenting with balance and gravity to create visually striking sculptures that appear to defy the laws of physics,” he said.