James Barth
Bio
James Barth’s (b. 1993) work explores the themes of trans self-representation and embodiment. Trained as an oil painter, her recent work extends beyond the traditional through a layered creative process. Using 3D modelling software, Barth first renders avatars created in her likeness into detailed digital tableaux. Her compositions are then animated into video works and transmuted into oil paintings. To create her paintings, images of the artist’s compositions are silk-screen printed onto aluminium panels using oil paint. The wet paint is then brushed to soften the crisp lines of the synthetic imagery. The resulting works combine the virtual and the painterly. Barth’s unique practice reflects her interests in painting, self-portraiture, and film. Her monochrome works often depict domestic scenes, pairing idealistic imagery rendered in clean lines and shapes with imagined bodies overwhelmed by mess and decay. Mounds of organic materials, such as fruit peels and leftover food, are often left to sweat and decompose in the uncanny worlds of Barth’s avatars, who are imbued with a sense of ennui and listlessness.
Barth’s recent solo and dual exhibitions include: The Placeholder, Milani Gallery (2021), ZONWEE: the last known recording of a daydream in collaboration with Spencer Harvie, Boxcopy (2019), Screen Tests, Milani Gallery CARPARK (2019), Assuming a Surface, Outerspace (2018) and Otonaroid, Woolloongabba Art Gallery (2015). Their work has been featured in a number of group exhibitions including Embodied Knowledge, Queensland Art Gallery; New Woman, Museum of Brisbane (2019); Melbourne Art Fair; and Crossexions, Metro Arts and The Cross Art Projects, Sydney (2016), among others. Barth is currently completing a residency in Metro Arts Visual Arts Pathfinders Program. In 2016 Barth obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Visual Art) with first class Honours at Griffith University Queensland College of Art (Southbank). Currently, Barth is completing a Doctorate of Visual Arts at the Queensland College of Art.