Mac James and I crawl out from underneath the same rock each day. Our inclination is to hide, but our intention is to seek, to understand being imperfect in an imperfect world. It’s not the human condition we study, but rather the condition humans have created. We have a common curiosity of the animals, plants, and space we all share.

I understand Mac, barely know him as a person, deeply know him as a human. He is what I hope for when I imagine someone we need to explain this life, and who we want to help the world. Mac is by no means a leader, but an example we can only hope to follow. Mac is an observer, who thinks and feels carefully, who portrays what he discovers as something we can recognize, so we call him an artist.

But I would more fittingly call Mac a scientist. Mac follows the process of someone steeped in science, observing the phenomena of his environment, questioning why, and hypothesizing how. Most artists deviate at this step and create what they feel to be true. This portrayal, however, wears the veil of self, of thought and philosophy. But Mac continues the process by investigating and analyzing until he can accurately reveal what he sees, with no artistic filter. The piece he creates is not so much art, but a model to help explain the implications of what we see. Mac never judges, accuses, or blames, as he know he’s part of this imperfection. Rather, he dispassionately

reveals where we are, what we’re doing, and how it’s affecting us, all of us. Mac does not offer answers, but asks his viewers a question. Asks them to observe, to see, to understand how we treat ourselves, others, and our place.

Viewing a body of Mac’s work is like entering an immense researcher’s notebook. A sketchbook filled with illustrations and notations taken in the field in and around where Mac lives, both physically and mentally. I don’t feel as if I’m being educated, but rather allowed a rare glimpse into the working mind of a scholar. Mac’s work is intelligent and timely, with a spontaneous eye aimed at recording what’s happening, now. He leaves it to the viewer’s conscience to interpret the facts he reveals.

And this is the essential power of Mac’s work: his gentle and caring guidance calmly asks us to look, his concerned and unaccusing image allows us to see, and with this knowledge, he and we can truly help the world.

Mac will return to his rock, our rock, where I feel privileged to bump into him and his thoughts, and his images.

Curator Statement
L.J.C. (Linda) Shimoda
Kauai Museum
Art Gallery Director