About James Gardiner (Fahn)
James Gardiner as an artist is focused on perception, ambiguity and consciousness. This focus is translated into art through working methods based on emergence, starting without a plan and working responsively. Each work is an attempt to capture presence.
About James Gardiner (fahn)
James Gardiner is a Sydney based multidisciplinary artist, with a background as an architect and inventor. James completed an artist in residence (sculpture) at UNSW Art and Design in 2018. In late 2020 James shifted to painting, and in 2023 enrolled in a Master of Fine Art at the National Art School, Sydney. James Gardiner through his varied career has exhibited internationally, in 2018 he was a finalist for the NSW government Creative Laureate Award, and has work held in the permanent collection at the Museum of Arts and Science (MAAS) Sydney.
'Fahn' for James is a philosophical way of working and thinking about art and creation. Loosely based on the Cantonese term 'sic fan' which has variable meanings, but can be most easily translated to 'eat rice' or remember the base (rice). The term resonated deeply. For James this is a call to focus on the core of things, to know materials and to communicate through simple means. The term also has meanings in other languages and street ling, the ambiguity this sets up epitomises James art practice.
Photo by Rachel Xuan
Scape solo exhibition, Arthouse Gallery 2019