Here, we ask designers to take a selfie and give us an inside look at their life.
Age: 27
Occupation: Visual artist and designer.
Instagram: @jamesccherry
Hometown: Chicago.
Studio location: Los Angeles.
Describe what you make: I’m a sculptor who focuses on material manipulation, and I also design lamps. I’m interested in the space between those two fields. I like to explore making personal truths available as public information in the form of objects—disguising everyday materials and symbols in ways that feel new and expressive for me. Because of that, a lot of my art draws from my experience as a gay man: I think my identity is subtly and not so subtly inherent in everything I make. My lamps lean into this theme in terms of a confusion as to what they’re made out of. That ambiguity is very attractive to me. I play with materials in very childlike ways—that’s the most fun part of making for me. I like pushing a material in untraditional ways to see what’s possible and what isn’t, how to make something temporal feel sustainable, soft become hard, etc.
The most important thing you’ve designed to date: A couple years ago I made a lamp called Echo 1 that has inspired a lot more bodies of work and has helped give me a lot of opportunities to support my making. I made an edition of ten at first, and after they sold out I was offered my first solo show (at Noon Projects in Los Angeles). From there, it’s been nonstop. Who knows how long these kinds of things last, but I feel really grateful for the fact that Echo 1 resonated with so many people, enough to give me a running start. It’s a lamp I remake for commissions constantly, so it supports me in a very real way.
Describe the problem your work solves: My work creates problems instead of solving them. It resolves itself only it leaves me with a bigger question mark than when I began. As long as it’s sturdy, I like an object that appears delicate, but is actually quite stable and strong. I also only really use discarded materials as the base of my work, so it feels done when something tossed to the side finds a new purpose again. That fabric I found on the street is now a lampshade and steel the metal factory cut wrong happens to be the perfect size for a pedestal.
Describe the project you are working on now: My first solo show in San Francisco. Whenever I have a solo show, I like it to be a mixture of both my lamps as well as a very separate practice, in hopes that they inform each other in ways that feel exciting. For this show, “Listening,” I’m showing a huge collection of driftwood carvings that I’ve been working on for the past four years since moving to the West Coast. I like taking Highway 1 up to San Francisco whenever I go there, stopping along the way at my favorite beach and collecting wood. Because of that, this work happened very organically—this wood is embedded with memories of friends, relationships, and loneliness. Some sticks were given to me, some of them I found, but almost all were combed from a beach I’ve spent a lot of time at since moving out here. Making this work has been about listening to the driftwood. I try to respect the idiosyncrasies that originally draw me to each stick, while trying to dig out a self-imposed or transmitted mystery.
To accompany the driftwood, I created a series of lamps that feel analogous to the creative language I’ve used in the wood. I wanted to make lamps that felt extremely different in terms of material, but mimicked a sort of warmth and structure that the wood carvings have. I also used a lot of steel to create armatures/pedestals to support the wood carvings, so I used a lot of that same steel to make the lamps to continue a train of thought.
A new or forthcoming project we should know about: After this show with Schlomer Haus, it will be the first time in about a year and a half that I don’t have to immediately begin prepping for a new show. After my debut show with Noon Projects last year, I quickly began working on a solo show I was offered in Naples with Galleria Solito, and then I did a huge series of lighting for Lawson Fenning. So now, for at least a month or two, I will finally be able to tend to my waitlist of commissions and hopefully have some more room for new discoveries in the studio.
Beyond that, I have a fall show with Tiwa Select in New York and a show of lighting in Portland with Spartan Shop. I’m also currently doing a series of sconces for Charlap Hyman & Herrero, an architecture firm that I really love. I’m super excited about it all! It’s a busy year already, and I feel very blessed for that.
What you absolutely must have in your studio: A big speaker system is the only thing I need. I might like music more than I do visual art, and yes I sing along to everything in the worst voice you’ve ever heard. Silence when I’m beginning anything, though. I also like to listen to a lot of audiobooks when I’m doing something extremely tedious, like sanding.
One thing I absolutely cannot have in my studio is other people. I work totally alone. I really like my solitude to work. A lot of times when I’m coming home from the studio, I realize I haven’t had to open my mouth once the whole day, and that’s exactly how I like it.
What you do when you’re not working: I like being in nature. I go to the beach alone a lot or with friends, looking for the next piece of driftwood I want to carve. In that way, I’m always kind of working!
Sources of creative envy: My twin brother, Ethan Cherry. He’s a painter, and he’s a true example of discipline and passion in the studio.
The distraction you want to eliminate: My phone. I’m utterly and completely obsessed with her.
Concrete or marble? Concrete, but more importantly, wood.
High-rise or townhouse? I don’t care as long as it has a view of the sunset.
Remember or forget? Remember everything.
Aliens or ghosts? Aliens.
Dark or light? I think you know the answer to that. 💡
