James Moore

Artist statement

The lure of the ‘false’ in painting forms the foundation of my work. Constructed landscapes and the psychology of fictional spaces make up the stage for an exploration of painting as a simulacra, not a representation. Ultimately, my paintings seek to picture something tangible, conjured up from our obsession with simulations and fiction. They are like ‘levels’ from a non-existent game.

Each painting functions like a standalone world, where I construct the basic pieces and lay them out in the space to emphasise the topology. Complexity is gained from a play on the ability and convention of figurative painting to present a coherent image, to unify disparate sources.

The main concern in my work is to seek aesthetic resolution within a canvas. Many of my paintings are an attempt to locate the emotional feeling that I have with certain imagery or to be more precise, certain spaces. I’m interested in human constructions and what they mean. Why do we make so many simulations? What specific elements are important? What is the implication on the real world? A particular draw for me is the simulation of the natural world, in physical models and virtual models, for people and for animals.

My work is predominantly traditional in its methods, in that it is oil painting on canvas. However, the work challenges the traditional roots of the medium in its exploration of virtual spaces and computer generated imagery. It also explores the relationship of painting to other forms of image making. As photorealist pieces, they slot into the theory surrounding that mode of working - the pursuit of seductive surface and the relationship of painting as a depiction of a real space that is deemed unnecessary by the mechanical eye of the camera. I explore the role and potential of painting in a digital age, using computer generated worlds and imagery as a source, and reducing these back to a 600 year old tradition of oil painting on canvas.

I believe that painting has a unique ability to claim new territory in the depiction of virtual spaces, introducing a merging of the physical hand and eye production of painted imagery into an increasingly cold visual world of digitally rendered and mechanically created images. Painting is a low-end technology in terms of its materials, but it has a limitless ability to directly connect to the viewer and by suggestion, it can intimate the most complex visual experiences that human culture can offer. It is the perfect tool to engage with the complex visual experience of a high tech world.