About the work

This drawing relates to a series of works that began with drawings of clouds copied from two prints by Albrecht Dürer – Madonna with the Monkey and The Sea Monster. I made studies of the clouds in each work, which I then made in to rubber stamps. With these stamps, I built the composition of each work, which I then worked into quite heavily with lots of drawing in black ink. In my practice, I work with found imagery and texts to explore two main themes: the idea of metamorphoses, and my own responses to individual works from art history.

Date and country of birth

1981, GB

About the artist

Born ​1981 Buckinghamshire, Ann-Marie James lives and works in Suffolk. Graduated from BA (Hons) Fine Art at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, London (2001–04); Postgraduate Diploma in Fine Art at Chelsea College of Art and Design, London (2010); and MA Fine Art at Wimbledon College of Art, London (2010–12).

James' practice explores two main themes: One is the idea of change, of metamorphoses, of one thing turning into another. Change is a constant, and she is interested in the connectedness of all things, in a cultural conversation that stretches right back to antiquity, and to ancient Greek and Roman myth in particular. The other is the idea of a connection, or dialogue, with art history via the use of found imagery and texts. She is interested in using the found to investigate her own responses to individual historical works, to the artists that made them, and to their themes and origins.

Her work is held in public and private collections including The British Museum, London; The British School at Rome; Chelsea College of Art & Design Library, Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge; University of the Arts, London; The Victoria and Albert Museum, London; and John Jones Collection, London.

Selected solo exhibitions include Alchemy, Wiltshire Museum, touring to The Salisbury Museum, Poole Museum and Karsten Schubert London (2019-2020); Geometria, Kettle’s Yard, University of Cambridge (2019); Sea Change, Lyndsey Ingram, London (2019); After Dürer, Fairhurst Gallery, Norwich (2018); Le Monde Moderne, Edel Assanti, London, in association with Karsten Schubert, London (2015-16); Musée Imaginaire, Knoerle & Battig, Winterthur (2013); Proserpina, Karsten Schubert, London (2013); Hanami, Soho Art Gallery, Osaka (2011); and Pareidolia, Edel Assanti Project Space, London (2010). 

Awards include the Artists International Development Fund, The British Council (2016); The Derek Hill Foundation Scholarship at The British School at Rome (2013–2014); MFI Flat Time House Graduate Award, supported by the John Latham Foundation, London (2012); The Jealous Graduate Print Prize, London (2012); and The Queen's Award, Central Saint Martins Scholarship Awards (2003). Residencies include Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge (2019); The British School at Rome (2013); Headspace, supported by the Daiwa Foundation, Nara, Japan (2011); and Lantana Projects, Memphis, Tennessee (2006).