URL: dalekart.com



















When did you first recognize your taste for art?
I’ve been drawing and all that since I was a kid. It was just one of those things, I never paid much mind to it. It didn’t really start to flush itself out until I was in my 20s.

Talk about spending your impressionable teen years in Japan, any experiences of culture shock? Looking at your work with its bold outlines, its treatment of perspective and color, it seems powerfully inspired by Japanese aesthetics. How did the culture there help shape your personal aesthetics?
There wasn’t too much culture shock. I moved around my whole life so adapting to new environments wasn’t that difficult. I got into it pretty quick. I can’t tell you directly how [manga, grafitti, signage, etc.] influenced me. I know that the culture and visual aesthetics of Japan played a role, but as with everything, I don’t pay attention to what goes in and how it gets filtered out...I just act as a blind vessel to the inner workings of my soul.

Imagery and visual information is just piled up on top of itself in Japan, ne? A crazy contrast to lazy life here in the islands…
I lived in Hawai‘i from 1986 to 1988. I almost went to UH. I didn’t get in the first time I applied. Go figure. Then in fall of ‘88 I moved back to the mainland. I contemplated coming back but had already entrenched myself in my life in Virginia. It was hard moving out of Hawai‘i but I realized that my time there had passed. It was great living there and a good time in life. I was 18, trying to figure stuff out. I just skated and surfed and ate a lot of plate lunches. It was a beautiful way to spend a couple years. That pace of life has always sort of stuck with me. I love how slow and laid back it is. I miss that.

You went back to the mainland and got your bachelor’s degree in humanities before pursuing your BFA. As an artist, a surveyor of life and social interactions, you make images that reflect your observations. How did you make the step from anthropologist/sociologist to image-maker? Is there a difference?
There weren’t any steps really. The beauty of life is the ability to have multiple channels which all facilitate each other in creating the whole. It was a real natural step for me between it all. I am fascinated by humanity, the work is about humanity… it’s all the same thing.

Speaking of humanity, let’s talk about Doctor Who and the origin of your moniker. Daleks are an unsympathetic race of robot like extraterrestrials set on dominating the universe. You’ve been known to cast the name aside, have you abandoned the nickname?
I always loved that show growing up. I thought the Daleks were great villains... so creepy and unaffected by anything. I haven’t abandoned the name at all, I still use it. Using my real name was never about killing off Dalek or transitioning out of it. It was just about bringing my real name and identity into the mix for them to co-exist.

Considering the sort of violent qualities shared by the o.g. Dalek, and the themes in your own work, I have to wonder, are you an angry guy?
Well, anger is a relative term. Applicable to certain things and not to others.  I am passionate and opinionated. Those things come out as anger sometimes but more in the form of frustration. It’s quelled quite a bit as I stack on the years and my little ones are around. I find ways to productively channel these things.

Well you seem productive enough, for sure. You have a huge client base and have shown your work at galleries internationally. Do you make distinctions between the client based design work you do for large companies and the personal work you do for exhibition?
Fine artist... designer... both? Is it possible? These things don’t cancel each other out... nor one diminish the other. Everything is client based, even [in] gallery shows there is ultimately a client on the receiving end. I don’t make distinctions between all these things. They are different forms and processes of creative expression. Weighing them out is a waste of time.

Your past exhibitions are numerous and geographically widespread. Do any stick out as having been most fulfilling for you?
Every show has had its moments. Every show has a progression within it of the work. So they are all groundbreaking for me. It’s usually the first time I can step back and look at the work as a body, see the strengths and weaknesses, and [see] where I want it to go. It’s an ever evolving process.

A process that must keep you quite busy. With all that going on, how personally involved are you in the production of your pieces? Do you have help? Has your studio changed much since you began?
Not really... It’s still a pretty simple set up. I work in my garage with a car parked on the other side of my work table. I have an assistant help me from time to time but most of the work is handled personally. I don’t have any real desire to disconnect to the process. Help is needed sometimes, that’s for certain. I have one [assistant] that helps occasionally, but that’s it. In time things may change, and they may need to…we’ll see where it goes.



As things have changed what has been the greatest obstacle in the evolution of your style from 2005-present? The greatest reward?
Everything that comes out of me working is subconscious. Sometimes it’ll be a year or two before I can see what I was thinking. I try to be as oblivious as possible to everything in the process. I want the work to be free of me, and me free of it. It’s an odd way of working I guess, especially given conceptualization and intellectualization in art. To me it’s a visceral process, one I am connected to loosely as a conduit and then I can figure the rest out on the back end. The only obstacle to evolution in the work is evolution in the self. If I grow, the work grows. So in overcoming obstacles in the work, I am overcoming obstacles in life and within myself, and that is very rewarding.

So they kind of go hand in hand. I guess it’s expected that a close connection should exist between your personal and artistic essence. Are there any artists or genres that have been the most inspirational to you artistically?
It depends what day of the week it is. I don’t play favorites [smiles]. There are so many nuances to art, music, film… they all have different strengths and weaknesses that come into play at different moments. They are all ever changing landscapes that move with time.

Speaking of a change in landscapes, you’re making a trip out to Honolulu for a show this summer. You’ll be collaborating with some local artists, which I know we are really excited about. What else can we look forward to seeing from you?
I don’t know, I haven’t even started to think about it, and won’t.. until I get there and start working. So I have no idea what to expect. Keeps it interesting. Ideally by having no set direction or expectations I can evolve and adapt to whatever happens while working there. The collaborative process has been great for me. It’s a nice way to switch my work dynamic which is usually very solitary. It allows me to get input and outside perspective while working, which creates changes in the work that might not occur otherwise. After coming to Hawai‘i, I have a show in London in late august. Which I need to start working on, and then I can’t remember after that. The future is the future for a reason...


デーレック
ジェームスはコンピューターなどの先端技術を使いアートを表現する有名な芸術家。誰にも真似できない色使いと身を切るような幾何学的模様は奇抜で大胆といった度肝を抜かれるものばかりである。ハワイだけでなくあらゆる場所での生活、また仕事を経験してきた彼の名は瞬く間に世界中に広がり、現在ではニューヨーク、ロンドン、また日本の 美術館で彼の作品を見ることができるようになった。そして世界的にも注目されている日本人現代美術アーティスト村上隆の元で働くという大きなチャンスにも 恵まれた。