James Klumpner

Artist Statement

I have drawn with pens and pencils all my life and started painting in 2015. I am not trained in art, which I find liberating, and I prefer to stay untutored -- at least for the present. For now, I would rather paint than take painting lessons, because I enjoy figuring out new skills on my own.

My works have no titles because I want them to speak for themselves without buttressing text. Instead, I invite viewers to tell their own stories about what the surreal images signify. When my works succeed, they enlist viewers’ own creativity in giving meaning to the strangeness. They are like Rorschach tests, but without diagnostic purpose.