Resident Check-In: James P. McNamara

What is your artistic medium?

I am a poet, but I have also worked in the media of playwrighting and music journalism.

What do you hope to explore in your art during your time at Charlotte Street?

Quite frankly, I came to residency while I was at a crossroads as an artist. Currently, I am focusing on collage poetry as a placeholder while I readjust my focus as a page poet.

In what ways do you utilize your space for your art practice?

I use my space both as an office and a studio space. Right now it looks like a guinea pig cage due to all the shredded paper on the floor from my collages

Walk us through a typical day in your studio…

When I arrive I set up my laptop and dig out whichever relevant notebooks I’m using at the time (I prefer Moleskine’s for poetry notes and legal pad’s for everything else). I will work any of my relevant projects either to some album I can mostly ignore or (recently) an Adam Curtis documentary if I’m working on collages.

What is the first piece of art you remember grabbing your attention? At what age? Why do you think it did?

Jerusalem at The Hilltop at the Nelson-Atkins. My dad used to take my brothers and me to the museum when we were little. I remember just how huge it seemed to me then, not only in its physical geometry,  but it’s melodramatic scope. I think it was the first real spiritual experience of my young life.

Whose studio do you find yourself wandering to in your downtime?

I always stop by Boi Boy’s studio at least once. I often chat with Ben Rosenthal in the hallway to talk shop and I will always try to hunt down Neil (Goss) and force him to commit to the serious emotional labor that having a cigarette with me entails.

What events do you have coming up in the near future?

None to report currently, but I will have collage poem prints for sale in the near future.
What are some of your plans post-residency?

I hope to be brought on for a second term of the residency in 2018.

About jamespmcnamara

I'm a poet who lives in Kansas City, Missouri. I'm currently and always working on new idras. Anybody wanna buy some? You should. I've been told by a few folks that aren't my mom that it's pretty good.

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