James Blackburn

James Blackburn’s primary artwork is illustration and sculpture. His pencil illustrations encompass a variety of design areas that include: book illustrations, storyboards for film and stage productions, set and prop design, conceptual drawings, architectural art renderings, and costume design.

In 2014 James expanded his art into sculpture and was commissioned by the Chickasaw Nation to create a seven foot bronze sculpture depicting two Native American hunters of the Southeast during the Mississippian Culture Period titled Owwatta (They’re Hunting). The sculpture is located at the Chickasaw Cultural Center in Sulphur, Oklahoma. His other bronze monuments include an early Chickasaw Governor, Douglas Johnston, located at the Chickasaw Capitol grounds and most recently a life-size monument of a Chickasaw Lighthorse police officer.

ARTIST STATEMENT

I have always enjoyed sharing stories and creating narratives through my art. This is something innate in my thinking as all the art I enjoy has a narrative, whether fictional, cultural, or historical. With my illustration work, my early influences were sci-fi fantasy art and comic book art. This helped shape my drawing style and background for storyboarding and sculptural art.

My sculpture work was a natural progression as a way to bring my art to life as three-dimensional. As a child, I remember seeing a sculpture with my father at a national park. The sculpture was of a Native American who was kneeling with one hand lowered, taking a drink from a natural spring. The work was masterful and it inspired me to one day create something similar for my adoptive father’s tribe, who was of Chickasaw descent. Embracing his culture as my own, I’m honored to help preserve it and its history through my art.