Description Comfort Curtain is a sculptural installation of a large steel curtain that appears to be hanging on the wall. The curtain is fabricated to resemble a patched quilt or blanket. The piece is formed and assembled from varying smaller sections of sheet material that are bolted together. The steel has been aged and looks gritty with the paint flaking off to reveal the decaying metal underneath. The curtain alludes to a form that was once strong but has since lost strength over time.
Artist Statement The conceptual tone of Mulvaney’s work deals with need to impose a context and a desire for understanding onto our empirical experiences. Questioning ideas of cultural relevance, moral understanding, and individual’s sense security, he creates objects that feel severally aged or decomposed, and at times emanate a feeling of neglect, insecurity, and impotence. These objects act as artifacts for the issues and relationships of both Modernity and Post-Modernity ideals, and reflect the anxiety and confusion in trying to understanding ourselves within the context of our continually changing cultural and social landscapes.
Process Mulvaney embraces the idea of manipulating and damaging the material that he usea. Using conventional methods of building and fabricating, he exaggerates these processes to the point that degenerating, and at times detrimental to the material and/or object’s integrity.
Bio James Mulvaney was born in New York. He studied sculpture at Alfred University, where he received his Bachelor’s in Fine Arts. He currently lives and works in Portland.
