Description
We are so excited to introduce you to James Goodman, an extremely talented Navajo sculptor who is known for the life-like realism in his work.
James Goodman attended stone sculpture classes at POEH Sculptural Center for three years and had hands-on guidance from Robert Dale Tsosie, Adrian Wall, Carl Bernie, and Ryan Benally.
He has won ribbons at many shows including 1st Place, Best of Category, and Best of Division, and just looking at his work, it is easy to see why.
He is focused on honing his knowledge of the character and personality of the stones he works with, preferring to let the stone tell him what it wants to be and interpreting that so he can aptly tell the stone’s story to the rest of the world.
Each stone is a spiritual journey for him and reveals its story to him as he works with it to show its true essence.
In this detailed sculpture, James has used Nebraska Limestone and Granite. Millions of metric tons of Limestone is mined in Nebraska each year, both in huge quarries and in underground mines. Limestone is also used in road materials such as asphalt and concrete and in other construction processes.
This Limestone has been used to depict a prominent male, maybe a tribal leader. As in all of James Goodman’s work, you can see the motion and emotion. He’s stoic, looking straight ahead, unflinching. His detailed headdress ends at the natural boundaries of the stone, adding mystique to the piece. Amazingly, James was able to carve the braids with space behind them, as if they are truly dangling there as they would be in real life. The textural aspect of the sculpture adds even more realism and depth. Finally, the back of the sculpture is the rough, true surface of the stone, only flattened in one area to allow for the artist’s signature.
The Granite base adds some contrast to the lighter colored Limestone, completing the composition.
This is a lovely, detailed sculpture, an example of realism at its finest.
James is truly talented, and we are so happy to welcome him to the Wright’s family!
