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| Silent James age 3 |
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| Silent James and Esther Westwood |
Many suspect his name originates from his own quietness, but it is actually from his love of silent film. His artwork occurs in an asymmetrical 1920's/modern world coloured by favorite cartoons, movies, and a lifelong fondness for pro-wrestling heels.
Asymmetry plays a huge part in his life, right down to his own heterochromia.
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| Silent James' different color eyes |
Upon seeing the Jean-Claude Lauzon film Leolo and Guy Maddin's Brand Upon the Brain, Silent James decided to make his own childhood recollection piece. Three (2011) was his first picture-book, an entrancing adventure of a boy that no one pays attention to...
Mr. James became notorious for dapper garb, as favored by his characters, complimented by suspenders and bow ties. In 2011, he successfully took his character skills to the theatre in the starring role of barber John Guerrieri in Speakeasy Dollhouse. In 2014, he was cast in The Brothers Booth as the role he was born to play... himself! A completely silent performance of physical comedy and audience sketching in the grand setting of the Players Club.
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| Photo by David Aquilina |
In 2012, Silent James coined the term Prepessimism to describe his art. Prepessimism is art which seeks to bring the viewer back to the innocence of childhood...
In the very popular semi-sequel to Three called Dee (2012), we follow a girl's adventure to escape unwanted attention...
Later work includes his visual autobiography Secrets of Silent James. He has also done portraits of famous people and nobodies, illustrated articles, record covers, film posters and is a graphic recorder for ImageThink. He happily made the move to California in 2015, with Esther and Oscar Westwood.
