Artist Jim Naughten finds animals more captivating than human beings. It\u2019s not due to a lack of effort; throughout his artistic journey, he has explored a vast array of subjects. \u201cMy creations have drawn inspiration from literature and childhood fascinations,\u201d Naughten shares with My Modern Met, \u201cespecially historical themes, ranging from WWII military reenactments to Namibian tribes dressed in Victorian attire.\u201d It wasn’t until he discovered stereoscopy, an early Victorian technique for 3D visualization, and started collaborating with natural history museum collections that he understood his artwork should focus on animals.<\/p>\n
This realization wasn\u2019t entirely unexpected, as Naughten had a fondness for such institutions as a child. \u201cI then developed a series titled Mountains of Kong, incorporating stereoscopy, dioramas, and color techniques,\u201d he explains. \u201cI had initially embarked on art school as a painter before unexpectedly switching to photography, yet I always felt a connection to painting. Utilizing Photoshop to modify backgrounds and hues felt quite familiar and evoked memories of the painting process.\u201d<\/p>\n
Naughten experienced a shift following a trip to the Field Museum in Chicago. \u201cThe museum was bustling, yet a temporary exhibit on extinction was completely empty,\u201d he recounts. \u201cMost attendees were captivated by the T-rex, which has been extinct for 66 million years, showing seemingly no concern for the struggles of our contemporary wildlife.\u201d This led to the creation of his series Eremozoic, where stunning\u2014but imaginary\u2014depictions of wildlife convey our growing disconnection from nature. \u201cThe series was produced using natural history specimens, dioramas, pre-existing images, and extensive post-production efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n
A year after Eremozoic, Naughten commenced his current series, Biophilia. \u201cAI was starting to gain momentum,\u201d he remarks, \u201cand after witnessing some remarkable images created by a friend, I chose to explore this avenue.\u201d His pre-existing images serve as the foundation for each creation. \u201cIt\u2019s a rather peculiar process,\u201d he confides, \u201cwhich evokes mixed feelings in me, yet it proved highly effective for Biophilia. I enjoyed working from home, repurposing images, and it felt akin to crafting a remarkable soup from rather mundane ingredients\u2026 being able to create novel visuals with a significantly lower carbon footprint than my earlier projects was genuinely appealing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Biophilia showcases animals within their environments. They are recognizable but clearly fictional. A gibbon, for example, lounges on a sand dune adorned with a striking gradient coat. In another artwork, a zebra’s black stripes transform into a spectrum of colors. Each creature, or group of creatures, stands alone in its setting. It reminisces Naughten\u2019s earlier pieces while highlighting that two realities coexist; the natural world fuels imagination and evokes cherished memories, yet exists amidst concern for our role and the planet’s future.<\/p>\n
Naughten\u2019s works can currently be seen at Michael Reid until May 2, 2026.<\/p>\n
Exhibition Information:
\nJim Naughten
\nJim Naughten
\nApril 9, 2026\u2013May 2, 2026
\nMichael Reid
\n109 Shepherd Street, Chippendale NSW 2008, Australia <\/p>\n
Jim Naughten: [Instagram](https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/jimnaughten) <\/p>\n
My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by Jim Naughten. <\/p>\n
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\n– [Animals Share an Eye With Artist in Her Series of Surreal Self Portraits](https:\/\/mymodernmet.com\/flora-borsi-animeyed-ii\/)
\n– [Artist Honors Poetic Bird Migrations by Drawing and Painting Them on Vintage Maps](https:\/\/mymodernmet.com\/steeven-salvat-latitude-longitude-exhibition\/)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Artist Jim Naughten finds animals more captivating than human beings. It\u2019s not due to a lack of effort; throughout his artistic journey, he has explored a vast array of subjects. \u201cMy creations have drawn inspiration from literature and childhood fascinations,\u201d Naughten shares with My Modern Met, \u201cespecially historical themes, ranging from WWII military reenactments to Namibian tribes dressed in Victorian […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":555961,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-555960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/winklersart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/winklersart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/winklersart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/winklersart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/winklersart.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=555960"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/winklersart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555960\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/winklersart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/555961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/winklersart.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=555960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/winklersart.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=555960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/winklersart.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=555960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}