James T. Goodwin
We are excited to present "Improvisations: Icons & Artifacts”, the work of multi-media artist, designer, poet, and raconteur James T. Goodwin, the most complete exhibition to date.
Continuing his two dimensional "Symbols of Transformation” series, “Improvisations” adds a third dimension, and brings together scattered objects, separated by time, culture, value, and condition, within a precisely defined space, whose dimensions are compelled by the inner nature and mysterious connections of the objects themselves.
“Enclosed within their self-created luminous spaces, the song they sing together is totally new.”—James T. Goodwin.
Photography: Sinziana Velicescu
Acrylic Fabrication: Crystal Craft
Improvisations: Icons & Artifacts
The Secret
19th Century Japanese Marionette Face
19th Century Japanese Bronze Rat
Early 20th Century Film Holder Wood/Glass/Felt
Cracked Glass Fragments in Acrylic Case
12” x 12” 1⁄2 x 12” 1⁄2
Shiva Shrine
Goose Egg w/24K Gold Leaf
Pullet Egg w/Palladium Leaf
PulletEgg w/White Gold Leaf on Rainbow Acrylic Pedestal
Indian Cast Brass Nandi
in Acrylic Case
11" x 13" x 13”
Abhaya Mundu
18th Century Burmese Bronze Buddha
Diamond Saw Blade w/24k Gold Leaf Smoky Quartz Sphere
Polished Brass Plate
in Acrylic Case 13" x 12" x 12"
on Rust Patinated Metal Column 38" x 9" x 9”
In The Beginning
“He set a compass upon the face of the deep”—Proverbs IX:27
19th Century Mexican Colonial Niño; WWII Optical Prism
German Silver Dividers
Nickel Linen Tester Bausch&Lomb
Brass Square
Arts & Crafts Hand Hammered Copper Plate in Acrylic Case
with Prismatic Acrylic Roof 13" 3⁄4 x 12" x 12"
on Polished Aluminum/Acrylic Pedestal
53" x 13" 1⁄2 x 13” 1⁄2
Zarathustra
Diamond Saw Blade w/ 24K Gold / 22K Moon Gold / 18K Lemon Gold /12K White Gold Leaf
Lega Standing Male Wood w/ Kaolin
Bronze Eagle Head on Bronze Acrylic Column
Serpent Carob Seed Pod
in Clear Acrylic Case
22" x 22” 1⁄2 x 23” 1⁄2
on Bronze Acrylic Pedestal
36" x 14" x 11”
The School of Life
Victorian Child’s Writing Desk
Wooden African Comb
Petrified Dinosaur Bone
Dogon Bronze Serpents
Saw Tooth Steel Tool
in Acrylic Case
15" 1⁄4 x 16" x 19"
w/ Black Oxidized Silver Leaf
In The Balance
Do not despair: one of the thieves was saved.
Do not presume: one of the thieves was damned.
—Saint Augustine
19th Century Mexican Corpus and Cross
American Hand Forged Iron Balance ca. 1920
Rusted Iron Machine Pulley
Carob Seed Pod Cobra
in Acrylic Case
24” 1⁄2 x 27”” 1⁄2 x 14” 1⁄2
Sunrise — Mars
19th Century Watchmaker Vice
Leo Castillo Co Five Metal Dish
in Acrylic Case
14” 1⁄2 x 13” x 16”
w/23K Red Gold Leaf
Space Station Galactica
"Stella Vox”
Aluminum Tape Editing Platform Mounted on Large Steel Gear Parker Pen Gold Nib; Venetian Glass Toothbrush Holder
Oceanic Carved Horn Figure
Lobmeyer Crystal Cobalt Blue Cocktail Stirrer stamped Stork Club
Steel Ball Bearing Ring
Optical Lenses
Brushed Steel Cubes
Green Glass Spheres
Solid Brass Spiral Steel Gears
Blown Glass Spiral
Vintage Black Glass Inset
in Acrylic Case
9" x 19" 1⁄2 x 13”
mounted on Hexagonal Pedestal
36" x 14" x 11”
Live! I Am Coming
Hand Forged Iron Nails
Glass Flower Frog; Cast Glass Insulator Whitall Tatum No1
Jurassic Borer Worm Fossil
Ewe Male Figure
Pittosporum Branch
in Acrylic Case
24" 1⁄4 x 25” x 21”
Kismet
Benin Cosmetic Palette w/ Female Head
Wood/Pigment/Kaolin Ghana Heddle Pulley w/Carved Raven Head
Opera Diva’s Pearl Handled Pocket Revolver
American Folk Art Marble Slide Toy w/ Stone Marbles ca 1910
in Acrylic Case
31” 1⁄2 x 39” 1⁄2 x 23” 1⁄2
Tyger Tyger
19th Century Han Chinese Child’s Apotropaic Hat
Silk Embroideries on Silk
Rusted Garden Cultivator
in Acrylic Case
18" x 15" x 19"
w/Green Silver over 24K Gold
Moon Over Antarctica
Gourd
Driftwood Whale
Copper Mesh
Bausch & Lomb Lens
in Acrylic Case
27" 1⁄2 x 21" x 26" w/ Palladium
Via Dolorosa
"The sweet path of sorrow”
19th Century Guatemalan Santo La Dolorosa
Tinned Metal Cake Decorating Tips in Acrylic Case
19" x 14" 1⁄2 x 16" w/ Palladium Leaf
Immeasurable Light
19th Century Japanese Marionette Face
Dried Lotus Leaf Bamboo Ribbed Paper
w/ 24k Gold over Palladium Leaf
in Acrylic Case
23” 1⁄2 x 33” x 5”
James T. Goodwin
A protegé of Russian actress Eugenie Leontovich and American painter Jeanne Miles; alchemist exhibiting at the Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts and other venues; creator of WESTWEEK at the Pacific Design Center attracting artists and scientists including Frank Gehry, June Wayne, and Jonas Salk; director emeritus of the LA Craft and Folk Art Museum (now the Craft Contemporary).
Improvisations: Icons & Artifacts
Represent unmediated Responses of the heart
To the wonders of the world
Their process of creation
Poses a paradox -
They cannot be made
Only discovered
But they do not exist
Until they are made
The process of making is
Ad Hoc
Open Ended
Spontaneous
Improvisatory
Unpredictable
Empirical
Frequently Impetuous
Making itself up As it goes along
Symbols of Transformation
James T. Goodwin, ISIS, Gold, Platinum & Silver Leaf on Arches, 23 x 23 in. 1996-98.
James T. Goodwin, Prima Materia. Moon Gold, White Gold, Black Silver and Silver Leaf on handmade Japanese Kozo paper, 39 x 39 in. 2000.
James T. Goodwin, Androgyne. Moon Gold, Platinum and Silver Leaf on Arches paper, I 30 x 22 1/4. 1994.
James Goodwin, “Gammadion”, Gold and Platinum Leaf on Arches, 23 x 23. 1999.
James T. Goodwin, Kundalini I, Silver and Lemon Gold Leaf on Arches, 24 x 24. 1995.
James T. Goodwin, Kundalini II, Silver and Lemon Gold Leaf on Arches, 24 x 24. 1995.
James T. Goodwin, Sol Lapis Christus. Gold, Lemon Gold, Platinum & Silver Leaf on Arches paper, 23 x 23 in. 1995.
James T. Goodwin, Aurora Consurgens. Rose Gold, Lemon Gold, Platinum and Silver Leaf on Masonite, 36 x 48. 1998-99.
James T. Goodwin, Trimurthi II. Lemon Gold and Platinum Leaf on Arches paper, 23 x 23. 1995.