OIL, ACRYLIC, AND WAX CRAYON ON PANEL 2021 30” x 40”

JAMES WARREN IS AN ARTIST FROM TORONTO, ON. CANADA. HE LIVES, WORKS AND STUDIES IN PROVIDENCE, RI. HE WILL GRADUATE FROM RISD WITH A BFA IN PAINTING IN 2022. INSPIRED BY RECENT ECOLOGICAL WRITING, SUCH AS JANE BENNETT’S VIBRANT MATTER AND LUCY LIPPARD’S UNDERMINING, HIS RECENT WORK IS AN EFFORT TO SEE ALL OBJECTS, THINGS AND MATTER IN OUR ENVIRONMENT (NOT JUST HUMANS) AS “VITAL” AND AGENTIC. HE IS INTERESTED IN POSITIONING INANIMATE OBJECTS IN THE ROLE OF FIGURATIVE SUBJECTS AND EXPLORING HOW THEY SPEAK TO NUANCED HUMAN AND NON-HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS. WHILE WESTERN FRAMEWORKS POSITION “HUMAN” AND “NATURE” AS DISTINCT AND OPPOSITIONAL CATEGORIES, HE ENGAGES WITH SUBJECTS AND SPACES WITHIN THE LANDSCAPE THAT POINT TO THEIR UNNOTICED ENTANGLEMENT. ADDITIONALLY, THROUGH HIS WORK, HE IS INTERESTED IN UNDERSTANDING “LANDSCAPE” AND “WILDERNESS” AS CULTURAL CONSTRUCTIONS AND INVESTIGATING WHERE WE SITUATE OURSELVES IN RELATION TO THEM. HOW DO OUR CULTURAL PERCEPTIONS OF NATURE PHYSICALLY SHAPE THE LANDSCAPE ITSELF?