Collection: Lovemore James

Born in Harare, Zimbabwe in 1979, Lovemore James began to sculpt after
completing school in 1997. Lovemore began his training under Arthur Fara, an
uncle and invited artist at Chapungu Sculpture Park. It was through Arthur
Fata’s influence that Lovemore gathered inspiration to become a sculptor.

“It made me very excited to see the work of Arthur Fata, to realize that I could
work with another sculptor, be inspired by him but not copy him, or be overly
influenced by his work. My work must mark the stage of my life, my maturing,
and my growth. But it also must record the stages in the lives of others around
me and pass a message on to future generations. . .” says James. When
asked how he draws inspiration from the stone, he remarks “. . .I get truly
inspired by bringing a good subject out of the stone, something which people
can recognize and means something around me. Sometimes I move around
the country seeing how people live, how they move and how they behave as I
put these things (concepts) into my sculpture.”

His work is said to be powerful abstractions of the human body. Each
sculpture is based on entirely new idea and themes as James airms to bring
fresh new ideas to his sculpture, so that each work is a total departure from
the last.

James is a resident artist at Chapungu Sculpture Park at the Kirstenbosch
Botanical Gardens in South Africa. He strives for continued growth as a
sculptor and continually seeks new cultures, experiences, and travels to learn