OCEAN RACER AND ARTIST’S COLLABORATION RACED ACROSS THE ATLANTIC
PERKINS CONTINUES TO PUSH BOUNDARIES FOR NEW WAYS TO MAKE A PAINTING, MAKE A MARK, AND A SCULPTURE IN COLLABORATION WITH NATURE
Photography by Natasha Gonzalez, arial photography by Thomas Deregnieaux
Featured images from top: Drone shot by Thomas Deregnieaux, Onboard images of Conrad Colman by Natasha Gonzalez, Image of James Perkins at his Fire Island studio by Bryson Malone. Artist Talk video production and editing by Nate Colman.
For the ocean racer, Conrad Colman, sailing is an art. For the multimedia artist, James Perkins, art is a sport. Both Colman and Perkins have honed their crafts to a science. Each relies on the power of nature - the weather, the wind, the sun, the ocean, and the stars. Despite their professions seeming very different on the surface, they came together with an innovative partnership to magnify their common message about the beauty, strength, and fragility of humanity and nature’s interdependence.
On November 22nd, 2022, after a 13-day race across the Atlantic, Colman crossed the finish line of the 3,542 nautical miles solo-skippered Route du Rhum, with Perkins’ silk canvases flying high. Racing from Saint-Malo (France) to Pointe-à-Pitre (Guadeloupe), Perkins’ bright silk canvases were affixed to the boat’s life lines and sails as they were exposed to and transformed by the ocean elements at speeds up to 30 knots on Colman’s seafaring “studio.”
“My sculptures are what I call post-totem structures, for all mankind. They symbolize that we are all in this together. Having Conrad collaborate and fly my canvasses as a flag for humanity’s mutual interest in caring for and sharing the planet is moving. I am interested in capturing the energy and beauty of the ocean, the example of Conrad’s passion and endurance, and through our collaboration to demonstrate the human virtue of weathering storms and pushing through to achieve a long term goal.” - James Perkins
Typically, Perkins’ studio is his Fire Island beach, where he allows the sea salt, ocean spray, sun, rain, and hurricane-force winds to weather his all-natural silk sculptures to unveil dynamic, layered, and utterly transformed totems. Using nature as his paintbrush, Perkins’ art demonstrates the awesome power and beauty of our interdependence with our environment. In this race, nature was full speed ahead with Colman at the helm.
“Within an hour of the race start, art was happening! Not only was the race exhilarating but to be the custodian and choreographer of James’ art while watching the minute-by-minute transformation of the silk- both in color and texture -was amazing.” - Conrad Colman
Colman, the offshore skipper with dual nationality from New Zealand and the USA who lives in France, has circumnavigated the globe three times and is the first skipper to complete the around the world Vendée Globe without using fossil fuels. He intends to do the same again, but faster, in 2024, with more of James’ silk onboard.
ARTIST TALK