James Kingman is an emerging London-based contemporary artist whose mixed media practice combines painting, screen printing, and street art. He finds a happy balance between spontaneity and control, creating engaging and tongue-in-cheek reflections on contemporary society.
With a career spanning over two decades in the design industry, James has lent his creative prowess to an impressive roster of global brands, including Nike, Adidas, Honda, and Sony. This background has seen him develop advanced skills in digital manipulation, which he integrates with traditional and lo-fi techniques found in his work, creating a blur between the juxtaposing mediums.
James’ personal style of work, involves a combination of digital editing and analogue techniques. These mediums often bounce back and fourth between each other before they get anywhere close to the designated substrate. These steps add to the blurred lines between digital and analogue. Some of these methods include lo-fi printing, tearing, distressing, hand-warping via scanners, and collaging until he achieves the desired composition or effect.
He then proceeds to bring the art to life in its physical form, utilising a combination of screen printing, stencils, spray painting, traditional painting and even painstakingly hand-applied halftones with thickened acrylic. This process results in an almost 3D piece of work - tactile and distressed, precise yet spontaneous, digital and yet physical. These techniques echo the play between machine and human creativity, pulling the artwork from its digital origins into the real world.