James M. Armstrong

Dimensional Polarity

Ottawa, Illinois

James M. Armstrong was born in 1970 in Ottawa, Illinois. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in sculpture and painting in 1997 from the University of Missouri-Columbia. He spent the last half of the 1990s producing abstract stone sculpture using non-traditional techniques and materials. James returned to his hometown in the spring of 2000 to run and help sell The Peltier Glass Company. By chance, the factory was sold to glass artist Boyce Lundstorm in the fall of 2001. James and Boyce became fast friends, and James was introduced to the artistic possibilities of working in glass. James continued to work at Peltier Glass through 2004 and now has his own studio where he continues to create works in glass. Even though abstract glass sculpture is his main focus, he continues to explore and produce works in a variety of media and styles.

www.armstrong-art.com

“I chose to participate in the LandfillArt.org project in order to have an opportunity to work on a project with such a large number of artists from around the world to help raise awareness and promote an eco-friendly consciousness at this time of environmental crisis. The challenge of turning a discarded hubcap into a work of art was a lot of fun. I will admit that it was a bit intimidating at first. It immediately took me out of my comfort cone. ‘What the hell am I going to do with a hubcap?’ As I worked on the project I found myself wondering, ‘Who had owned this hubcap? Where had it traveled to? How long had it sat in a landfill?’ And, now that it has been reclaimed and turned into artwork, Where will its journey take it next?”James M. Armstrong