Art
No Order Magazine talks with the artist.
James Hornsby is a contemporary artist working primarily with photography and video. He is known for his installations and photographic collages that conflate popular culture references and explore the impact of digital media on consciousness and modern life. He is particularly interested in revealing the process and authenticity behind photographic image creation. Often using highly unique postproduction techniques to re-visualise his own photographs. Hornsby uses photography as a mode of collaboration to highlight and explore subculture phenomena.
How did your career begin?
I always wanted to be an artist as a kid and through school as well, but at that time, the career option wasn't really open to me. I ended up going to QCA to study photography and did art photography, specifically photojournalism. I was shooting for BMX magazines and I thought that it waa going to be similar to the photojournalism course at uni. Instead they were like “ go take pictures of the AFL and write about it,” - it was so gross. I didn’t last very long in that class, and moved to creative advertising which is studio photography and mathematically driven. You had to have lighting in certain places for these reasons and I was like fuck this shit and moved classes again. This time I ended up in fine art, where one of my peers handed in a cake and got a 7. We had weekly critiques and I was making pieces that were technically strong but no one was connecting with them. I wanted to impress my lecturer so fucking badly. I ended up doing these dream drawings and everyone went off their fucking head. The colour pallets were vibrant and crazy - this is where I started with the bright colours in my work.
My brain just comes up with stupid, hilarious shit. I think it can be different, but a lot of the process, especially for these types of pieces, begins with photographs or capturing some kind of performative movement. I don’t really have one set process because I don’t just make photography works, I also make clothes, paintings, music and all sorts of shit. I do however take a trillion notes in random various word documents on my computer and phone.
Image courtesy of the artist.
What are the biggest influences on your practice?
It used to always be just my friends and the people around me that would influence by work the most. Film and a variety of artists also influence my work - I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of Andy Warhol? He is a bit niche. Slasher movies, horror, popular culture and other aesthetics all play a role in influencing my practice.
What’s something that you wish you knew at the beginning of your career that you know now?
Your expectations grow with you as a person. I feel like I've been taken advantage of quite a bit with people I've worked with in the past. I wish I knew to trust my gut more and work on my own shit. It’s important not to chase after validation from groups - I look at those things that I did and wasn’t as happy with them. Stay true to yourself.
Read the full interview in Issue 03
Published: 16th September 2023