James Sienna, Artist Interview

Julia Schwartz interviewed James Sienna for Figure/Ground Communication. It's a wide ranging interview covering ground from Sienna drawing when he was ten, his take on modernism and Ellsworth Kelly, and really a fun read.

If you look at a great painting – you’re looking at  something that launches the viewer into some other kind of perception, and as long as that thing is in decent enough condition to be seen and there’s light on it, it’s just, it’s always on.  It works. It functions.  The object, when you make an object is that highly charged.  It’s really sexy.  My way into this notion is through intricacy,  and as I’ve described, I got into intricacy early on. more

James Siena, The Wickets, 1997 enamel on aluminum 19″ x 15″, courtesy of the 

artist and Pace Gallery. Photo by G.R. Christmas

James Siena, Recursive Dented Lobes, 2006-2014 enamel on aluminum
19-1/4″ x 15-1/8″ courtesy of the artist and Pace Gallery