JAMES NIZAM, "Dwellings," September 5 - 30, 2006, Gallery Jones, Vancouver

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"Dwelling Series #2"

James Nizam, "Dwelling Series #2," chromogenic print, 24" x 36".

JAMES NIZAM, Dwellings

Gallery Jones, Vancouver

September 5 - 30, 2006

By Beverly Cramp

James Nizam finds beauty and insight in abandoned buildings. “There’s some kind of romantic pull to the ruin,” says Nizam, who graduated from the University of British Columbia’s Fine Arts program in 2002 after specializing in photography and sculpture. Fifteen new photo-based images of house interiors — each one deserted or about to be demolished — will be exhibited at Nizam’s September show. 

The photographs were all shot at night using ambient light partially illuminated with a flashlight. “I used the flashlight to take a painterly approach to the photos,” he says. “I could paint the rooms in, or not paint them in.” After graduation, Nizam started an ongoing investigation into dilapidated houses that he loosely calls the ‘home series’. “All the spaces I’ve looked at have a history as lived-in space. They’re charged with resonances and connotations of the surrounding neighbourhood.” While some of his drawings are of building exteriors, virtually all Nizam’s photo-based art focuses on interiors. “I’ve always been more interested in interior views,” he says.

Represented by: Gallery Jones, Vancouver.