James Hegge
James Hegge
Workspace Program Resident 2001
This was the first time I worked in handmade paper. The residency helped me develop a set of concerns I address in my drawings: exploring dexterity and creating a sensitive surface that records “an event”.—James Hegge, 2001
James Hegge has mastered a number of medias but he primarily makes sculptural work that engages the phenomena of human experience. Using performance objects that are often adorned by the viewer, he explores bodily themes such as balance, dexterity, endurance, and kinesthetic. Examining physical limits and perceptions, he employs the body as a vehicle for understanding. Through directly engaging the participant he examines the boundaries of our own bodies and how they interact with the environment and those around us. His sculptural works take the form of both tool and impairment, which allows for the focusing in or amplification of whatever phenomenon he is engaging. His structures often burden or deprive the engager of some ability or sense.
In collaboration with Paul Wong, Hegge applied his proprioception process to handmade paper. Rubbing pigment abaca across a cotton sheet, faint variations in texture and color emerge on the page. James’ nose replaced the paintbrush as he used it to push a ball bearing up and down the page, creating subtle markings. The end result is a ghostly image whose markings do not appear
About the Artist
James Hegge received his BFA from the Cleveland Institute of Art in 1992 and his MFA from Stanford University in 2000. He ha sreceived a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Fellowship and has been an artist-in-residence at the Bemis Center for Contemporary Art, the MacDowell Colony, and the Vermont Studio Center. He currently lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.
For more information, please visit their website: http://jameshegge.com/