As a digital artist, I work across various media including but not limited to digital illustration, virtual 3D installation, and digital film. In my latest work, I have crafted a 3D virtual reality experience that depicts my personal struggle with anxiety, marijuana abuse, and how it affects my worldview. I have done so using imagery of fun and colorful yet possibly fear-inducing clowns and theme park attractions, with an offering and potential use of marijuana mixed in. The scene itself takes place in a liminal space made up of unending white sprawl and colored tiles that suggest some sort of false comfort. The work centers around ideas of anxiety, existentialism, substance abuse, and feelings of uncertainty and aimlessness. While making it, I had to make sense of why I found this imagery to be compelling and in some way accurate. Through the piece, I have been able to explore my relationship with anxiety and its contribution to my unwarranted cautiously negative perceptions of the world.
Bio
James Cochrane is an emerging interdisciplinary artist from Redding, California, working in 3D virtual installation, digital illustration, and digital film. His work explores mental health, perception, and existentialism. He began to pursue art in community college and is now nearing completion of a BFA in Digital Media Arts. James has many interests and has difficulty determining where to focus his energy. He is an avid player of video games and is an advocate for games as an art form. He is interested in exploring interactive digital art as a medium, seeking to intertwine the conceptual freedom of visual art with the interactivity of video games. James Currently works and lives in San Jose, California, and is seeking his next step.
