James Heath

James Heath is a resident artist at ActionSpace’s studio at Studio Voltaire. Heath has a dynamic, immersive practice, mixing performance, percussion, sculpture, collage, charcoal and painting. He blends the natural world with mechanical forms in his sculptural work, constantly evolving and undoing actions as he creates. Following this process, he invites viewers into these forms using participatory performances such as ‘the time portal’ to guide participants through their own memories.

The artists' stripped-back colour palette sets the stage for these experiments, where multiple layers and intuitive collage is used to construct backdrops. Alongside this, he uses drawing – primarily with charcoal and an eraser – to explore his ideas around the 'complications of life.' Heath’s process is activated through storytelling and themes such as ‘the rhetorical nightmare’, ‘Nick Cave’s hands’ and ‘blank like it’s the nothingness’.