“Serotonin” is the title of the recent exhibit by David James at the Tyler Art Gallery in Penfield Library. The exhibit is James’ graduate thesis, which culminates his master’s in Graphic Design at Oswego State. He will graduate at the end of the semester. James is a lifelong Oswego resident who, between his family and work, has been working on his masters for the past five years.

James graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and Information Science in 2001 from Oswego State and joined Campus Technology Services in July 2004. He is Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) Certified. His most recent appointment was Network Technician for Oswego State CTS.

What went into your decision
to do the Graduate program here at
Oswego, and why Arts?

Two main reasons… I needed a Master’s Degree to have a better chance at advancement at my job at CTS. Secondly, I am planning on teaching art at night and when I retire.

I chose art because I love art and always have right from a very early age.

What was the theme for your exhibit?

The show is entirely about my life-long struggles with anxiety disorder and how I have gotten through those struggles, whether it was with help from drugs or from psychological help. With my work I really wanted to be wide open and express all of the darkness and vulnerability of anxiety disorder. The show displays graphic and sculptural art that exposes my struggles and life living with anxiety.

“Serotonin” is a representation of my experience using tools of graphic design coupled with structural sculpture to enforce the intensity of my anxiety. Each hand reaching for help, every scratch on the copper plate prints, and every layer of wood is a shooting anxiety that crosses the brain and compiles into a cluster of torturing numbness.

Is the arts graduate program a
natural progression from previous
degrees or something you have always
been interested in? You have
always been big into music from
high school, did that factor into
your art?

Absolutely. I was supposed to be a rock star, but I had kids and too many bills so I had to be responsible and get a job in the IT field. But there is always time to get back into my rock star destiny. In fact, tapping into my creative side for this master’s definitely tapped into those rooted passions.

What has been the reaction to
in from your professors, peers, students,
etc. about the exhibit?

It’s been really positive. I really want to put it out into the world because so many people are afraid to talk about it. To talk about my stories and what psychological help I got and how drugs would at times help and sometimes they made things very worse. For example, I was prescribed Lexipro by a general family doctor, and it turned out to make my anxiety worst. It was awful. It took months to work through that setback. This show gives me a chance to share that and to let everyone one know who is dealing with it, that other people are out there and we need to stick together and face the illness.

If you had to describe your exhibit to someone who doesn’t have an understanding of art, what would you say?

I would say this artwork is about the struggles with anxiety and I hope it makes you feel gnarly because it’s supposed to make you question what’s going on. It’s supposed to make you feel.