Love is just as important as air, food and water. You can't live without it, whether it's self love or love by another.
My art is what has kept me alive. I never thought of being an artist; I just was. This feeling started from my early childhood. For the other children in the neighborhood, I individualized their bicycles by painting their names on them. My payment was the leftover Testors model paint.
Much later, I was extremely fortunate to find my dream job. I taught high school industrial arts in Connecticut. And during that time, I discovered screenprinting. I fell in love with the process. I was able to make all the equipment necessary to start a screenprinting business. That was the beginning of a new life. The pull of this new life was so strong that I left teaching and moved to a resort community in Southampton, New York to start a silkscreen printing business. I found it extremely satisfying to get paid for my artistic skills. Finding a new passion in life, I was very happy to use my creative talents designing and producing a product. I eventually sold the apparel printing business. With selling the business, it released me to find my new love. This driving energy manifested into conceiving and creating large sculptures.
I think making an art sculpture challenges the artist, as one takes an abstract idea or vision and turns it into a 3 dimensional reality. Besides the art idea, engineering processes come into play as well as the method of construction, the different materials used and the choice of finishes. The period of discovery and the sense of losing oneself while in the process of creation is so intoxicating.
I have found a new love in life. My art is autobiographical. An idea comes to me like a lightning bolt, it strikes and is unrelenting. At first, I make a maquette (model) to get it out of my head. This process solidifies the dream and brings it into the next level of reality. This is the time I study it from all sides as well as from top to bottom. Many obstacles present themselves in this phase. Even the decision to move forward or not can happen. Each piece will only come to life if I breathe life into it.
This exciting phase of my artistic life expresses the affirmation that love has dynamic power. Throughout history, art has been used to convey a social message. My message is Love. It is my hope that these new and unique art pieces speak to people's minds and touch their hearts. I hope to impact people to think about love; ignite how they feel about love and inspire them to act in love. The sculptures from the Inspired by Love series are for the community to interact with and feel love for their community.
James Ding Artist