James Rocke

Who do we talk to when we look at a crafted image on a worn-out canvas? Is it the art that speaks or the artist that takes sanctuary in the brush strokes? The universe rarely seems to discriminate between the two, and often they entangle in a curiously subtle dance. When I flick a stratum of colour across a white corrugated surface, I hardly assemble my being into the thoughts a bystander would have by looking at my art. Instead, I focus on humanizing my portrait: I paint in the grey area of abstract and figurative style.
In my art, you will see the stark anatomy of an unsung woman celebrated to its fullest. I feel that the female form is an emblem of power and strength. While I befriend carbons in my oil paints, I flirt with the human lying unadorned on my slate. I selected the human form because it syphons wilderness, and my art slit opens the gushing blood out the sharp diversity it harbours.

I explored portraiture at the Angel Academy of Art in Florence, where Micheal John Angel mentored me. My drawing lessons took a flight in Andres Joraslavsky's studio, though I am currently aiming for a BA(Hons) degree in Fine Art.

Doncaster Art Fair, Group Exhibition, June 2021

“Seasons” Group Exhibition, King House Gallery, 2021


“Blast” Group Exhibition, Hackney Downs Studios, The Holy Art, 5th-11th of June 2021

“The FLUX Review V2” Group Exhibition, The Flux Review Magazine, 4th of June – 4th of July