For James Paddock, the blank exhibition space provides an opportunity for composition.\u00a0 Often a combination of sculptural installation and projected film works, Paddock\u2019s installations explore themes around the unknown and untold – revealing the concealed experiences of voice-hearers such as himself, and drawing out the unspoken narratives of everyday people.<\/p>\n
Going beyond the (readily understood) spoken dialogue of narrative filmmaking, Paddock\u2019s film work reveals the \u2018untypical\u2019 experience of those who hear voices, offering a creative expression from his own privileged position of lived experience.\u00a0 These multi-layered narratives are often constructed collaboratively, allowing themes to surface from \u2018typical\u2019 conscious experience and also from the subconscious experience of voice-hearers.\u00a0 In this way, Paddock both references and disrupts traditional methods of filmmaking and storytelling. Sculptural shapes perform a similar role for the gallery space \u2013 disrupting and re-imagining the path to the film works and the space around them.<\/p>\n
As a result, the installations challenge well-worn stereotypes and social stigma, offering a gentler and more genuine representation of the lives and concerns of voice-hearers. Seen through this lens, the work sheds new light on hidden human experiences, and the inner workings of the mind and its voices.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Examples of artistic work includes being funded by Arts Council England for two moving image artworks SHELLS (2017) and PLYON (2019).<\/p>\n
SHELLS is a film installation that celebrates uniqueness and acceptance for people who live with mental health conditions showcased at two curated exhibitions at The Production House, Eastleigh and Black Box project space, University for the Creative Arts (UCA) Farnham.<\/p>\n
PYLON is a thought-provoking a mixed media installation that demystifies the lived experience of someone who has psychosis, a condition often misunderstood. PYLON was my first solo exhibition in London at A-side B-side Gallery, which was selected by Whitechapel Gallery and Timeout, as a top 5 exhibition, out of 150 East London First Thursday galleries.<\/p>\n
Recently he was awarded an Artist Bursary from a-n The Artists Information Company to explore how he can use his lived experience of Schizophrenia to work with researchers in mental health within my practice.<\/p>\n
In 2021, he was awarded funding for his current project Mirrored to the core, by Arts Council England. MTTC is a video artwork with an operatic twist.<\/p>\n
He graduated with a BA Fine Art degree, studying at Cardiff School of Art & Design and Winchester School of Art.
\nHe has exhibited at the Espacio Gallery, London; Chelsea College of Arts, Appleton Box, Lisbon; ROA Gallery, London.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":387,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tags":[],"artist-theme":[],"artform":[],"curated":[],"country":[],"acf":{"simple_layout":false,"featured_image":3048,"featured_image_alt_text":"Two people in a rehearsal studio. James Paddock (Artist) in a grey t-shirt and Amber Weyman (performer) with pink hair..","strapline":"James Paddock uses mixed media, video, installation and conceptual art to focus on overlooked matters in contemporary society","artistic_directors":"James Paddock","contact_name":"James Paddock","contact_title":"Conceptual, installation, and video artist.","company_address":"England\r\n","company_email":"jamespaddock100@gmail.com","company_url":"https:\/\/jamespaddock.net\/","twitter":"","facebook_url":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/different.art.installation.video","instagram_url":"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/jamespaddock100\/","wrap_around_work":"James facilitates discussion and gives talks to audiences interested in art and mental health. He works with a team who help him present his thoughts, ideas and artworks to the viewing public.","press_comments":"","video":[{"video_introduction":"Lost Person 2018 by James Paddock","youtube_video_id":"QJTOKQaoMH4","vimeo_video_id":""},{"video_introduction":"The 'Shells' exhibition, with the 'Blinds' and 'Nets' installations by James Paddock\r\n\r\n","youtube_video_id":"d6y_KKcYeAg","vimeo_video_id":""},{"video_introduction":"PYLON is a video mixed media installation by artist James Paddock that deals with the topic of Psychosis or precisely Schizophrenia.\r\n\r\nTaking the viewer on a journey with a psychotic young woman Lilly who travels on foot as a psychotic experience unravels.\r\n\r\nThe artwork uses moving image and special audio techniques (binaural sound) to convey the psychotic experience.\r\n","youtube_video_id":"","vimeo_video_id":"394715187"}],"photo_slider":[{"upload_photo":3525,"photo_title":"Mirrored to the Core project.","copyright_text":"2021, Copyright photo by James Paddock","alt_text":"There are the characters of Mirrored to the core, a young black women (Actor, Zing Akinshegun) and a young white man (Actor, Jacob Tsering) stood beside a vivid blue pillar in the car park scene of Mirrored to the core","long_desc":"James Paddock's current collaborative project Mirrored to the core will see an online premiere screening and panel discussion on the 8th December 2021 with Disability Arts Online."},{"upload_photo":3036,"photo_title":"PYLON, production still.","copyright_text":"2019, Copyright photo by James Paddock","alt_text":"This is a still of the main protagonist in the video installation PYLON. We see pictured Performance artist and Actor Amber Weyman in the image with a clear blue sky behind her.","long_desc":"PRESS RELEASE \u2013 2019\r\n\r\nSouthampton based artist James Paddock receives Arts Council England funding for first London solo exhibition.\r\n\r\nLife\u2019s rhythms are magnified and everything around the psychotic character is at a hyper level. The everyday is intensified and the normal journey is taken to another world, another land \u2013 a new place. Birdsong, the sea, the wind is in communication with the psychotic character \u2013 a world in which people communicate telepathically.\r\n\r\nJames Paddock has been awarded Arts Council funding to develop PYLON, a new mixed media installation inspired by experiences of psychosis. The artwork will be exhibited at A-side B-side Gallery in London from 4 \u2013 10 September 2019 as Paddock\u2019s first London solo exhibition.\r\n\r\nThe installation takes the viewer on a journey of a psychotic young woman (performed by actress and performance artist, Amber Weyman) who travels on foot, as the psychotic experience unravels. The artwork uses moving image and special audio techniques (binaural sound) to convey the psychotic experience to audiences through an immersive installation. \r\n\r\n PYLON is a continuation of Paddock\u2019s enquiry into often-overlooked topics of contemporary society in this case mental health. Paddock says, \u201cI wish to contribute to breaking down stigma surrounding mental illness. When people think of psychosis, they might imagine an unreality in their minds. By discussing such a difficult and often controversial topic through the medium of art I hope to offer an alternative route to understand the condition and help dispel the surrounding myths. I am pleased that Arts Council England recognised the importance of my work and the contribution it can make to tackling difficult subjects in society.\u201d \r\n\r\nFor Paddock PYLON marks an important point in his artistic career. \u201cI\u2019ve relished the opportunity the solo exhibition has given me to push my practice and explore new audio techniques. I have worked site-specifically and developed the sculptural element of the installation in direct response to the characteristics of the gallery space, heightening the immersive experience for the audience.\u201d\r\n\r\n\r\nThe PYLON exhibition was selected as a \u2018Top 5\u2019 exhibition by Whitechapel Gallery and Timeout First Thursdays (Out of 150 galleries) in the east of London. It was a great experience and well received.\r\n"},{"upload_photo":3035,"photo_title":"Lost Person, production still.","copyright_text":"2018, Copyright Photo by James Paddock","alt_text":"We see a head, arms and shoulders shot of Actor Graham Cawte pictured in bed. The image sees him surrounded by white pillows and duvet.","long_desc":"Lost Person has been exhibited so far in Southampton and London, England and was also part of curator Diana Ali's exhibition Loss and Lucidity (The lost and found) being exhibited in California, USA and two shows in Lisbon, Portugal, including at the Appleton Box.\r\n\r\n\r\nABOUT THE LOST PERSON VIDEO INSTALLATION:\r\n\r\nAfter various conversations with mental health professionals, it seems there is a widespread problem in British society today with people suffering from mental illness and social isolation. Since the 1980\u2019s, \u2018Care in the Community\u2019 has been the primary means of treating physically and mentally disabled people outside of the institution, and within the safety of their own home. However, their entrapment remains unavoidable. Rather be imprisoned within an institution, these individuals are caged within their own homes, closing their curtains and hiding themselves away from the world. These people soon become lost within a culture and society that is otherwise constantly accelerating, ready to turn a blind eye to any obstacle in its path.\r\n\r\n\u2018Lost Person\u2019 is a moving image installation, designed to embody this struggle. The character we are introduced to is screaming out for help, but his words are muted. His voice has been taken away, and our only means of hearing him is through the subtitles that appear silently at the bottom of the screen. He is is another lost person.\r\n\r\nWe hear British sitcom style characters with canned laughter showing a dark side of British society. The film suggests an underlying dislike by the characters for the vulnerable. Their comedic nature is awkward and uncomfortable to listen to, as if they are there to taunt the man on the screen. We ask, are the voices real or are they a figment of the man\u2019s imagination? Is this juxtaposition of comedy and suffering intended to mock and humiliate? We hear life carrying on outside his window, whilst the character is in isolation. The installation incites us to examine and understand the harsh nature of mental health, as we sit helplessly on the side-line."},{"upload_photo":3037,"photo_title":"Shells exhibition (Installation view)","copyright_text":"2017, Copyright Photo by James Paddock","alt_text":"We see an everyday Venetian blind projected upon by a narrative video, the video shines through the blind, so that the video is on both sides of the blind. In another part of the installation, we see a series of photographs projected of successful people who have experienced mental issues, covered in a window net. Beneath is an upturned child's buggy, which suggests we don't possibly know what a child will become in life.","long_desc":"Press Release:\r\n\u2018\r\nShells\u2019 new film installations on display at exhibitions in Eastleigh and Farnham\r\n\r\nApril 2017 for immediate use\r\n\r\n\r\nShells, unique film installations by visual artist James Paddock will be showcased at two curated\r\nexhibitions at The Production House, The Sorting Office, Eastleigh (19-24 April) and Black Box project\r\nspace, UCA Farnham (7-15 June).\r\nThe two, interweaving moving-image installations celebrate uniqueness and acceptance for people\r\nwho live with mental health conditions.\r\nThe first installation, entitled \u2018blinds\u2019, will feature footage of a young girl (Hattie Gotobed, who plays\r\nGhita in Game of Thrones), and an older man (Dean Kilbey, an experienced television and film actor)\r\ndebating the existence and prominence of their own \u201cshells\u201d. This video work sees a man in dialogue\r\nwith a youth about our exact moment in time. The man bridges both the analogue and digital age and\r\nalso the reality before, and our current digital realities. The video itself will then be projected onto\r\nvenetian blinds, which represent the fact that we view reality through our own imperfect perceptions.\r\nThe second installation, which is called \u2018nets\u2019, is a more direct exploration of the stigma surrounding\r\nmental illness, which looks at famous people throughout history who suffered from mental illness,\r\nfeaturing stock imagery projected onto ragged nets. This installation features a voice-over by Nigel\r\nBradshaw (Dennis Cruickshank in Prisoner: Cell Block H). "}],"productions":null,"country":70,"artform":18,"theme":[]},"yoast_head":"\n