The Ohio Artist Registry (OAR) is an exciting opportunity for artists to share their work, connect with the creative community, and establish an online presence—all on a free, virtual platform! The OAR encourages artists working in all art forms, throughout Ohio and beyond, to create a profile, which allows them to better promote themselves and their work. Being listed in the OAR provides artists with new opportunities to share their work with clients, galleries, patrons, and audiences. A listing in the OAR does not confer an endorsement, approval, or verification by the Ohio Arts Council.
For more information, contact Kathy Signorino, artist programs director, at kathy.signorino@oac.ohio.gov or 614-728-6140.
Jim Bowling
Professor Otterbein UniversityArt & Art HistoryColumbus OH 43214 United States Home Phone: 614 634 3505 Website: https://jubowling.com
Bio
Jim Bowling is a sculptor from Columbus, Ohio, and a Professor of Art at Otterbein University. He earned a BS from The Ohio State University and an MFA in ceramics from Kent State University.
As a contemporary ceramic sculptor, Jim is rooted in the material and craft traditions of clay, using these techniques to explore concepts related to the construction of personal identity from disparate life experiences. He often uses spiritual, sexual, and political themes, peppered with a slightly twisted sense of humor, to explore identity through the male form. Jim creates unexpected textures and surface patterns to underscore and express the narratives of each work. He is inspired by the ceramic artists of the California Funk Art movement, and Surrealist ideology.
Jim’s work has exhibited regionally, nationally, and internationally, with exhibitions including the San Angelo National Ceramics Competition, and at CRETA Rome both as an artist-in-residence and as part of Rome Art Week (RAW). His work is in several private collections as well as the Massillon Museum in Massillon, OH and Del Mar College in Corpus Christi, TX. Jim is a member of the National Council on Education in Ceramic Arts and a former board member for Ohio Designer Craftsman.
Artist Statement
As a figurative sculptor working in clay, I use the male form to create narratives ranging from socio-political themes to expressions of desire and sexuality. I also use the figure to explore personal narratives and the contentious relationship LGBTQI+ people sometimes have with their bodies. I often move back and forth between very stylized figures and figures that are more representational, depending on the ideas I explore.
I am inspired by both the California Funk Art movement and Surrealism. Objects that exhibit wear and decay inspire my surfaces, implying a sense of “experience.” I often complement these surfaces with bright colors and patterns to imply chaos and order coexisting in a “yin yang” relationship.
In my most recent body of work, I explore interior spaces of the forms and their relationship to the exteriors as a metaphor for external expressions of inner lives.
