1 James Naish – Artist Statement
I am a Los Angeles based artist specializing in metalwork. My practice spans 14 years and within that time I have completed numerous large-scale public art projects as well as many private commissions. My work has also been exhibited in art galleries. I employ forging, bending, and casting to create richly detailed and three-dimensional work in a variety of metals including, steel, bronze, brass, copper, and stainless steel. I design and build everything in my workshop in Los Angeles. I have completed projects throughout California and look forward to working on a national scale.
My installations are very site specific and I utilize the existing landscape or architecture to highlight and enhance formal and conceptual themes. While my work often explores botanical and organic forms, the plants and depictions of nature in my pieces are often tied to a specific location, history, or imagined future. The work can be decorative and playful, but also contains important narratives, encourages dialogue, and can serve as an educational device. Most importantly, my work can be a valuable tool in placemaking, creating work that not only reflects a community (or location) but helps foster community identity and a long term sense of place.
For a project at Hellman Park in Whittier, I created two hundred feet of metalwork that represented the rolling terrain of the park’s hills and its native flora and fauna (over forty different plants and animal species were depicted). The finished work becomes a botanical archive in metal and a teaching tool for learning about nature and the area’s native history. For a project in Highland Park, I created one hundred and fifty feet of decorative fencing and entrances to enclose a pocket park (York Park) on a busy street. The design was inspired by the long walks I would take with my mother while growing up in the neighborhood. The ironwork captures the diverse mix of native and non-native plants found throughout Highland Park gardens. The fencing, while serving an important function, helps create a welcoming and magical entrance into an important and much needed public space. For a project in South Los Angeles, for The Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust, I worked with community members to create “emblems” or “coats of arms” that represented aspects of the neighborhood. The end result formed a composition of plants, animals, and manmade features that symbolized the area and was meaningful for its residents.
The panels, besides being functional and aesthetic, created a sense of place and encouraged community identity. This work and others can be found on my website: www.jrnstudio.com.