James Perkins | Burying Painting

September 20, 2025 - February 15, 2026
​Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art
Burying Painting is the first museum exhibition of New York-based artist James Perkins, presenting works that highlight the artist’s powerful reimagining of land art through a process that involves nature as a collaborator. In his practice, Perkins redefines the power dynamic between human and nature, allowing the environment to become an active agent in the making of the work. His sculptures—crafted from silk, wood, and stone—are shaped over time by direct exposure to elemental forces, such as hurricane winds, ocean water, rain, sea salt, soil, sun, and even wildlife. These forces leave tangible marks on the materials, transforming them into records of time, place, and environment.
 
Drawing from a lineage of Earthworks and the reductive aesthetic of Minimalism, Perkins’s sculptures, which he calls “post-totem structures,” transcend traditional markers of identity to offer new, inclusive visions of interconnectedness. His work, though spare in materiality, opens expansive questions about value, culture, and the environment, and proposes a philosophy rooted in reverence, interdependence, and humility. The artist’s post-totem structures symbolically recast the Earth as a unifying totem, offering a counterpoint to the anthropocentrism and inaccessibility of historical Land Art.
 
The title Burying Painting refers to both Perkins’s engagement with the histories of Land Art and Action Painting, and his singular technique of wrapping sculptural forms in textiles and partially burying them within specific landscapes for extended periods—months, sometimes years. During this time, nature becomes the artist’s palette as it weathers and bleaches the material’s surface, revealing varied color fields, textures, and patterns shaped by the environment. Once unearthed, re-stretched into painting-like objects, and relocated indoors, the works serve as intimate chronicles of site-specific interactions with nature.
 
This exhibition features new and existing works shaped by two distinct environments—a beach on Fire Island, New York, and the Sonoran Desert in Arizona—alongside films and photographs documenting the artist’s performative process. Burying Painting invites viewers to reflect on how art can emerge through patient engagement with nature, revealing an alternative approach to both the process of making and understanding art—one that suggests a deeper, more vulnerable connection with the world around us.
 
Organized by Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art and curated by Lauren R. O’Connell, curator of contemporary art. All work by James Perkins (American, b. 1978). Support provided by Collaborating Sponsor Gary N. Owen. Spanish translation by Xiomara Smith.
​Philosophy and Process
 
James Perkins’s philosophy and process are rooted in a deep understanding of the interconnectedness between humans, nature, and the material world. His concept of "post-totem" seeks to transcend traditional notions of totems—symbols of identity and belonging—by creating structures that reflect humanity’s shared connection to the Earth. To Perkins, totems can be found in all aspects of life, from how we dress to where we live. His philosophy positions his works as “post-totem structures,” representing an attempt to create a unifying symbol for all humankind connected to nature.
 
Perkins’s process involves partially burying silk-wrapped structures and leaving them in the landscape for months or years, exposed to elemental forces, such as hurricane winds, ocean spray, monsoon rain, the blazing sun, and even wildlife. After time, Perkins “harvests” the works and returns the land to its natural state. The altered materials are then re-stretched onto frames to create painting-like sculptures, uniquely marked by the environment with shifting color fields and varied textures that capture nature's agency, power, and beauty.
 
Unlike traditional Land Art that often reshapes the terrain with heavy machinery, Perkins’s works evolve organically, embracing change and impermanence. They are monumental yet intimate, masculine and feminine, sculptures and paintings that reflect the beauty in both transformation and the ephemeral nature of life. Perkins’s process mirrors his belief that we must treat all landscapes with respect, wherever we are, as the Earth is the ultimate totem that unites us.
​Site and Nonsite
 
Site and nonsite play a pivotal role in James Perkins’s artistic practice. Rooted in the ideas of Land Art, Perkins embraces both the physical and conceptual fluidity between the "site" (the natural landscape where his works are created) and the "nonsite" (the gallery or indoor presentation space). Inspired by Robert Smithson’s use of the term “nonsite,” Perkins refers to his indoor works as such, acknowledging that, although removed from the outdoor environment, they retain the essence of the natural world.
 
Perkins’s primary studio is on Fire Island in New York, but his practice spans diverse locations, including the Sonoran Desert, where he created work during a residency at Cattle Track Arts Compound. Each site presents its own extreme conditions—whether it’s hurricane-force winds on the beach or the intensity of the desert sun. On Fire Island, his works are often met with serene wildlife encounters, like deer and fawns napping next to the sculptures. In contrast, the Sonoran Desert offered a more dynamic response, where coyotes visited his installation nightly, ripping and playing with the materials. These contrasting encounters underscore Perkins's philosophy of embracing nature’s unpredictable forces and accepting the beauty of chance. By presenting these works in gallery spaces, Perkins offers a deeper connection between art, nature, and the philosophies that transcend both.
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James Perkins (b. 1978) is an American sculptor who lives and works in New York City and Fire Island, New York. He received a bachelor of arts from Yale University and a master’s degree from the School of Visual Arts. His work has been exhibited at Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA), Arizona; Norton Museum of Art, Palm Beach; Metro Pictures, New York; The Institute of Fine Arts, New York University; Brintz + County Gallery, Palm Beach; Hannah Traore Gallery, New York; Ace Gallery, Los Angeles; Dallas Contemporary, Texas; and School of Visual Arts, New York. Perkins is a participating artist in the 2026 Toronto Biennial of Art curated by Allison Glenn. His brand collaborations include Stetson, West Elm, J. Crew, Huckberry, Sleepy Jones, Lulu & Georgia, Faust Wines, UBS, and The Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA).