Cardboard, really?
I like to transform the utilitarian and overlooked cardboard box into a sophisticated and elaborate sculpting material. -James Lake
Effects of the Lockdown 1
See
“I like taking pieces of recycled materials and building them into significant pieces of art that people will hopefully be touched by in an emotional way.” James Lake
Paperman, Lucca Biennale, Italy, 2018
Cardboard Self, Number Two, 2023
“Inspired by my disability, nerve pain, cancer, dyslexia, and my questioning of art/history. Making work in a world of increasing climate change, fragmenting economies, the pervasive chatter of social media and the question of AI and creativity, whilst trying to find a place in contemporary art and portrait sculpture is challenging.“ (jameslakesculpture)
Say
I’ve always hoped that with my work that people with see that you can make art from any material. So if anything, I would like to think that I can inspire as many people as possible to be able to make artwork.
What kind of artwork does this inspire you to make?
What other non-traditional materials can you think of to make art from? Try it!
Lake lost his right leg to cancer as a teen and spent time searching for readily available material that he could use from his bedroom while rehabilitating. How does he use his limitations to continue impacting his artwork?
Do
Make a cardboard sculpture. What tricks will you try from the Video above?
Make a cardboard mask with this video!
About James Lake
Born: 1974 (age 50 years)
Based in Exeter, South West England
Education: University of Plymouth
Much of my work uses cardboard as a sculptural material due to it immediacy, ease of availability, reasonable cost and low environmental impact. My intention is to produce sculptures that echo the detail and depth found within traditional sculpting materials at a time of great global economic and environmental upheaval. My work is a search for a common truth and to find a sense of quiet humanity in the small details that are sometimes drowned out by the noise and brightness of contemporary culture.
I like to transform the utilitarian and overlooked cardboard box into a sophisticated and elaborate sculpting material. With this, I create life-size, three-dimensional portraits of people and animals, and anatomical models and furniture, including a monumental-scale commission for the Lucca Biennale in 2018.
The process and outcomes of making my work have always been intertwined with the practicalities of sculpting with a physical impairment. I lost my right leg to cancer when I was a teenager, so I spent time searching for an accessible and readily available material that I could use from my bedroom whilst rehabilitating. I create my work in pieces and then strategically position them together like a grand jigsaw puzzle to make the final design. This echoes the problem-solving skills that dyslexics, of which I am one, develop to write things down in a coherent manner.
Ingrained in my process is the desire to teach and demonstrate the techniques I use with others. Often working with schools, community groups and museums, I want to make sculpture accessible and blur the boundary between high art and low art for all audiences. I believe in art for all; art beyond race, gender, age, wealth, ability and disability.
This is Fantastic, Linda! I’m sure the kids had a ton of fun with the surprise!!
I’m so glad you shared James Lake with us. I think his work and story are great. I used cardboard in an art project with kids on my block. I gave them shapes to color without telling them what I was making. Then I assembled the shapes into faces and mounted them onto a tomato cage. The kids enjoyed finding the parts they contributed. After a year in my boulevard, we disassembled them and each young contributor got a face for themselves. https://share.icloud.com/photos/0cdCb7PtG1wLpBFSEbbt9ZqnA