Artist’s Statement
September, 2025
James G. Barrett
For me, art is the process and not the finished product. And, ideally, the process of sculpting is being in the moment, letting the hands yield completely to the creative force of the instant, free of interference from intent which impoverishes the moment with a clinging memory, or fantasy of future. That is not to suggest that every moment sculpting I am in this present moment. Not at all. For when unleashed, the creative energies pass through a prism of experienced longings and trials, sometimes stirring up emotional eddies that cause me to grab on to a vision of the mind and not of the eye.
In letting go of what my mind wants, the eye and hand renew their mysterious bond, creating something I have never seen before. When I marvel at this happening, I have faith to let go again, and again: time dissolves in form and texture.
At some point, the creative forces have no more to give. The awe has given form. The evidence of this communion is the sculpture itself. And just as the moon reflects the sun’s light, the sculpture reflects the creative force through time, perhaps waking a viewer with the original burst of “aha!”
Biography
Typical childhood: crayons, play-doh, model airplanes, pencil drawings of
buildings, trees and tanks; making stick huts in the dirt. Texture, color, form.
Teen years: head in the sky dreaming the aviator’s life, I never bothered
with art.
After college vocational currents swept me into business. Art wasn’t even a distant shore until in my 30’s when I took some drawing courses; ostensibly to meet women.
One Sunday afternoon in my loft, I struggled with my usual drawing
assignment demon –foreshortening the limbs– when lightening struck: “So, go get some clay.”
I did and magic arose.
Instruction Received
Ramapo College, 2003, Mahwah, NJ 2003. Bronze casting, welding with Jay Wholley
Educational Alliance, New York City 1995 - 2002. Figure sculpting with Paul Luchessi
Sculpture Center, New York City. 2000. Figure sculpting with Vera Schacht
Synchronicity Space, New York City 1999. Figure sculpting with Paul Luchessi
Sculpting Workshops, Tuscany, Italy. 1995 and 1997 with Paul Luchessi
New School 1995, New York City. Figure sculpting with Paul Luchessi
New School, New York City 1994. Life drawing
School of Visual Arts, New York City 1993. Drawing
Exhibitions
Poughkeepsie Open Studios, Poughkeepsie, NY – Sep 13-14, 2025 – group show
Three Graces Gallery, Portsmouth, NH. – June, 2004 – group show
Ramapo College, Mahwah, NJ. – October, 2003 group show
Cathedral Arts Festival, Jersey City, NJ. – March-April, 2003 group show
Clifton Arts Center, Clifton, NJ. – January, 2003 group show
Studio Montclair Tour, Montclair, NJ. – October, 2002 group show
Presby Iris Gardens, Montclair, NJ. – June, 2002 group show
Rose Royce Gallery, Montclair, NJ. – September, 2001 group show
Sculpture Center, New York City, NY. – June, 2001 group show
Lincoln Center, Cork Gallery, New York City, NY. – March, 1997 group show
Associations
Studio Montclair, Inc
Associazione Culturale la Medicea
This is a good place to thank my friend and teacher, Paul Luchessi for encouraging me to go with the flow, to “step back”, and work with “no fear.” Paul is a generous man with his talents and spirit: I was fortunate to be his student.
And without the masterful creation of this website by my friend Guillermo Berardone, you would not be reading this. His good-natured willingness to make this happen is gratefully appreciated.
Thanks to my mother, who passed in 2025, Martha Barron Barrett, a writer and teacher, for her editorial wisdom on the text of this website.
Finally, the encouraging words offered by family and friends and the desire of patrons to bring my work into their homes encouraged me to make it easier for others to view the sculpture. Those words and desires were the catalyst for this website.