| Jim Maunder
is a sculptor and art educator who lives with his wife and daughter
in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada - a small but culturally
vibrant coastal city at the easternmost extremity of North America.
Born in 1959, he received his formal training at Memorial University
in St. John's and at the Ontario College of Art in Toronto. Jim
is represented in Newfoundland and Labrador by Christina Parker
Gallery, and elsewhere in Canada by Studio 21 in Halifax and DeLeon
White Gallery in Toronto.
Jim Maunder works in a variety of media including bronze, steel,
ceramic, wood, fiberglass and concrete. Exhibiting since 1988, Jim
has shown in nearly 30 solo or group shows in Newfoundland, a solo
show in Toronto in 2006, and has been included in group shows in
Toronto, other parts of Canada and in New York and Tokyo. He recently
won Honorable Mention in the First Annual International Sculpture
Competition sponsored by Sculptural Pursuit Magazine of Colorado,
USA. In addition to his studio practice he is noted for his public
commissions in outdoor spaces.
Jim Maunder's life experiences have shaped his work. He has spent
most of his life living by the sea, witnessing the toll on nature
and humankind caused by the demise of once abundant fish stocks,
and has also had many personal health struggles. His sculptures,
whether figurative or semi-abstract, express his deeply held views
on the environment, the frailty of the human condition and the resilience
of the human spirit.
Human nudes and codfish often appear in Jim Maunder's work. The
codfish represents the vulnerability of nature and also refers to
religious and sexual aspects of fish imagery. By combining the human
forms with fish, he suggests our own vulnerability as a species,
and also our responsibility in the equation. With the naked body,
he expresses the temporary and vulnerable nature of life, as well
as the pure joy and aesthetic beauty of being alive. Recent advancements
in the science of genetic engineering and cloning, and the moral
dilemmas they present, have added another layer to Jim's continued
exploration of the complexities of the interaction between humans
and our environment.
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