James Inman is a junior business marketing major who grew up making art of different media with his mother. Taking art classes since sixth grade, James eventually found himself gravitating toward acrylic paint. James participated in a Q&A about his life as an artist at UTSA. 

Q: If you could describe your art to someone who has never seen it before, what would you say?

A: My art is inspired heavily by the Pop art/Surrealism style. I use a lot of bold vibrant colors to form very recognizable objects, but with a twist.

Q: Why is art important to you?

A: Art is important to me mainly because it has very little importance at all to anyone. Meaning no one needs my art, but people do need art. The world would be too boring without it. This gives me absolutely no barriers at all to what I can create. I make art for myself, to say what I want to say. I hope others admire it, but at the same time, it’s okay if they don’t. It’s important to me because it’s for me.

Q: Who or what is your inspiration?

A: To be honest I do not have any specific artist that inspires me. I paint what I see in my head, usually impacted by songs, moods, or dreams, etc.

Q: What do you want your art to say to people? 

A: I don’t have a specific goal in mind when trying to speak to an audience through my pieces. I like when they take away what they want from it. The long term goal with my art,  however, is to make people view the world differently than how they already do. I want people to question everyday norms that society pushes so heavily. Too many people think about how they are told to think instead of just thinking for themselves. 

Q: What connection do you have to your art? 

A: The amount of thought, preparation, and just overall time I put into my art makes me feel a strong connection towards it. I’ve had people try to purchase pieces I’m highly connected to that I just could never let go for a ‘reasonable’ price. 

Q: What are you working on now? 

A: Currently I am growing my portfolio and practicing all types of art mediums as much as possible. I am also working alongside another artist friend of mine to create an immersive art experience. Our exhibit should be shown towards late July. 

Q:What has been your favorite piece? 

A: My favorite piece is probably the one of the people going in for a kiss, “Just Two People Kissing.” Mainly because of how simple the concept is, but still contains so many meanings. What are their genders? Why are they blue? Who’s kissing who?

Q: What do you plan on doing after graduation? 

A: To be honest, I doubt I will graduate. My future plans, however, are to live comfortably off of my art alone. Eventually, I hope to run a multimedia company that specializes in creating immersive art experiences.  

James’ social media handle is @jamesinman_ if you are interested in his work and future exhibits.