For his debut solo show James Hopkins will be exhibiting a new body of works, including two pieces based on disappearances in the Bermuda Triangle and another on contemporary scientific theory.

Limbo of the Lost features a scale model of the Poet, an 11,421 ton ship with a 34 man crew and 13,500 ton cargo, which vanished without trace in the Bermuda Triangle in 1980. The scale model is housed in a large cube with two viewing windows. From one window a 3-D representation of the boat is clearly visible yet on moving to the other window it disappears. Possession and loss of images and objects is again explored in Great Isaac’ Rock. This sculpture is a working model of a light-house located near Bimini, in the Saragossa sea. In 1969 the two keepers mysteriously disappeared leaving no clues. The model’s manipulation of scale prompts the viewer into imagining the body as a vessel in need of direction and orientation. This is accentuated by the beam of light set at eye level, which introduces a sense of searching in relation to the act of looking. The light scans and surveys the gallery space and at one specific point casts a subtle shadow of a skull. The skull as an iconographic symbol is appropriated as a momento mori recalling the dangers at sea. Scale, mapping and orientation are once more investigated in the work titled Parallel Dimension. The sculpture consists of a giant interpretation of Newton’s cradle, where the metal spheres have been replaced with globes of the world. The work unites Newton’s demonstration of the laws of motion with the science fiction theories of parallel universe and super string theory. The sculpture plays on the notion that our inhabited world might just be one of many within a string of infinite amounts. The work humourously refers to an executive toy whilst also commenting on the serious issues of scientific analysis and discovery.

Hopkin’s work investigates the role of judgement in connection to the process of looking. He uses objects to generate perceptual puns and illusions that produce a moment of suspended belief. This destabilises the viewer’s expectations and pre-conceptions of the real. His work explores the relationship of desire to expectation and the role of illusion in challenging perceptual security. Hopkins interest in the Bermuda Triangle and Superstring theories lies in the search for possible explanations and not in drawing conclusions on subjects shrouded in mystery. It is the lack of rational explanation that allows for broader imaginative interpretations and for a fundamental questioning of the limits of present day understanding.

James Hopkins graduated from the MA Fine Art course at Goldsmiths College in 2002. He has most recently participated in the inaugural exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery, County Hall; The Jerwood Sculpture prize, London and other group shows including Chockerfuckinblocked at Jeffrey Charles Gallery, London; Kontakte Keep on Livin at Neon Gallery, London; and Plinth at The Trade Department, London.