Artist James Paterson turned a personal crisis into a vehicle for personal growth and spirituality.
Whether we realize it or not, we are all the product of the environment of our youth. Where we grew up, how we grew up, the people and places we saw and who we interacted with are all factors that shaped us. For artist James Paterson, whose medium is his distinctive wire creations, his environment was Toronto’s eclectic Kensington Market neighbourhood. That’s where his parents ran an inner-city mission as a community hub, assisting and helping the many immigrants who were arriving in the city during the 1950s and ’60s, in many ways, including offering English classes, recreational activities, plays and drama events.
“I really enjoyed growing up there,” says Paterson, in a recent interview with City Life. “A lot of the work I’m doing now really reflects back on my childhood in the market in that part of the city … the colours and texture and the vibrancy of that area of the city back in the 1960s. My parents were quite creative and put on drama events at the community centre. And my mom, particularly, was quite whimsical in how she looked at life. The market was a very human environment with a lot of eccentric and artistic people.”
Whimsical, artistic and eccentric are also good ways to describe James Paterson and his work. His wire creations are stunningly creative. These works, made entirely of twisted wire, invite the viewer into a relationship through their swirling shapes and moving parts, giving in to the mystery within each creation, and are perhaps as far away from the 20-year painting background Paterson had previously enjoyed as you can possibly imagine.
“I’m Humbled By How My Work Speaks To People While Giving Expression To The Mysteries Of Life.”
When people began taking an interest in his creations and offering to buy them, Paterson knew it was a medium he needed to explore and develop further. Paterson began to add splashes of colour to the pieces using a proprietary technique he developed, which added to the joy of these wire structures. Paterson says, “My work is meant to be touched.”
Paterson’s wire sculptures have won numerous awards, and his Prayer Machines, Play Machines and Engines of Joy have been displayed at top exhibitions in Canada, the United States, Europe and Asia and can be viewed in select galleries in Canada and the U.S., including at his new studio location at The Cotton Factory in Hamilton, Ont. Large signature pieces have been commissioned for Toronto’s SickKids Hospital, The University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center and the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford in California.
What is sometimes lost when discussing artists and their work is that it is revenue-generating for them. For all their creativity, it is still their livelihood when they sell a piece. At a course for artists at a show in New York several years ago, Paterson was taught that what people are paying for is a little piece of a relationship with the artist, and that spoke to him.
“They said what people are paying for when they buy your art is the relationship with you, and they are taking the art home as a reminder of that relationship,” says Paterson. “They’re not really paying for the art; they’re paying for the interaction with you, and that made a lot of sense to me. People want to talk with you, they want to know your story, they want to know where this all comes from. To them, that really means Something. They can relate to that, and it fills in the blanks in their own life as they can take the piece home as a reminder of the relationship.”
to drop by and see where Paterson is now, creating the wire sculptures in his home of creativity! | Photo By John Abboud
What gives him the most satisfaction is the response and reaction of people who see his visualization of various emotions. “The thing that has really humbled me is the people who see the work and respond to me — that they really see the joy in it, or hope in it, or see their childhoods in the work,” he says. “Some people have even said my work is what they see in their dreams at night. Some people even start weeping, and I’m touching them at a much deeper level, and they share personal stories with me. I’m humbled by how my work speaks to people while giving expression to the mysteries of life.”
Ever the storyteller, Paterson has recently written a children’s book, called Saturday Morning, another medium for his messaging. The creation of so much joy for others out of a time of stress in his life is a gift James Peterson is sharing with us all.
