Research Interests
Environmental Sculpture, Ceramics, Paper Making
Education
M.F.A., Clemson University
B.F.A., University of South Carolina
Biosketch
Jim Coates lives and maintains a studio in Southern, N.H. He completed his M.F.A. at Clemson University and his B.F.A. at the University of South Carolina. His sculptural installations, objects and drawings have been exhibited nationally. He has permanent public commissions at the Christa McAuliffe Planetarium in Concord, N.H., Saint's Memorial Hospital in Lowell, Mass., and his work is represented in numerous private collections. He has received sculpture fellowships from the South Carolina State Arts Commission, the Massachusetts Council on the Arts, and the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts. He is a former MacDowell Artist Colony Fellow, and the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts has honored him with the designation of Lifetime Fellow.
Jim Coates's work revolves around an interest in shelter forms (primitive, modern and contemporary) and their relationship to the natural environment. He is interested in the simplicity and proportions of these iconic shapes and humankind's psychological dependence on them. He uses natural materials to focus on the ephemeral and fragile qualities found in nature and our built environment. The natural environment and the woodland forest continue to guide his studio practice.
