Artist Interview: James Roha

James Roha is a digital artist and educator who creates speculative research and philosophical terrariums through his art. His practice explores the unexpected implications of contemporary technologies and evolutionary trends. By intertwining concept artwork with socio-political narratives, Roha encourages audiences to question long-standing trends and current decisions.

Trained as an architect and storyteller, Roha uses digital environment art and world-building to translate complex ideas into accessible, pluralistic narratives. He is currently teaching at the University of Tennessee Knoxville.

We asked James about his art, creative process, and inspirations.

*Saturophage 2023 Red Phase Montage - Photos by Beeba*

Can you tell us about your background as a digital artist? How did you get started in this field?

I’ve been making digital work since my undergraduate studies in Architecture, but I really got into the work during my Masters degree program. After school I worked a bunch of freelance gigs utilizing Unreal Engine // have been skilling up and producing work ever since.

*Sorn-Lai - Unreal Engine 5 render by Roha*

What inspires your art? Are there any particular themes or subjects that you enjoy exploring through your artwork?

For years now I’ve been really drawn to evolution/ digital natures as a subject; most of my works are about questioning current trends and using speculative fiction to explore potential offshoots or consequences. Like a lot of other artists now, issues of climate change, plastics, and other ‘hyper–object’ scale problems dominate a large portion of my productive lens.

*Audience Questing in Sorn-Lai - Photo by Dustin Finkelstein*

Can you tell us about your most recent public interactive game experience, Sorn-Lai?

Sorn-Lai is a public interactive game experience that tasks participants with exploring the First Forest. Audience members can use their phones to scan NFC data tags attached to the scape’s characters and dioramas - uncovering details about the world along the way.

The exhibition features a series of 7 large tabletop dioramas showcasing different environments around the first forest and over 50 character inhabitants of Sorn-Lai, all interwoven in an intricate web of narrative and ecology.

Stories unfolded around the tables are sets of cautionary tales regarding contemporary generative, manufacturing, and integrated technologies; the very technologies the installation is made with while the settings themselves are metaphors for societal trends and attitudes.

Constructing the environments took place largely within the digital spaces of Blender and Unreal Engine - after iterating and designing the individual pieces digitally they were made physical via 3D printing and CNC milling. After parts were made there was a fluid back and forth between 3D scanning the physical objects, re-sculpting them into new versions or alterations, and then re-3D printing them.

*NFC Tapscan Interaction - Photo by Eli Johnson*

Who are some of your biggest influences in the fields of architecture and world-building?

I studied under Liam Young for my master’s program // he is definitely a big influence on my work. Otherwise, people like Alex Mcdowell, Dunne & Raby, Lucy Mcrae, and Mas Yendo have been very influential via their various strengths of thinking and making.

*Sorn-Lai Digital Previs - Unreal Engine 5 render by Roha*

Can you tell us about your installations – how does the dialogue between the space and the artwork impact your creativity?

Spaces with relatively extreme conditions are very interesting for a dialogue. In Bangkok my installation was set in a long/narrow shophouse; it fully dictated how the set needed to be constructed and how the audience might be guided around it. Larger more open spaces, while freeing in a way, offer fewer ‘handles’ and the lack of constraint can make the target more nebulous.

For my more recent pieces I knew I wanted the pieces to be flexible and ‘travelable’ so I leaned more towards installation work that has a more self-deterministic core initially, then respond to the space for the lighting design after.

*Saturophage 2023 Green Phase - NFC tagged model display - Photo by Beeba*

Can you walk us through your creative process when designing a new 3D world?

Typically I’ll begin with a collection of ‘digital stuff’: objects I’ve made or collected over the years, and a loose idea. Then I’ll test a bunch of configurations with the pieces // see what sticks — it’s a really iterative process to arrive at a solid visual concept and art direction. Once I’ve got a tone established for the work I’ll flush out the story by responding to the generated tone.

*3D scan of Sorn-Lai tabletop diorama - Unreal Engine 5 render by Roha*

Have there been any surprising or memorable responses to your work?

Kids tend to have the most dramatic responses to the work- I think because it takes miniatures and digital technology together, they tend to really engage with the installations. The most surprising thing about kids though has been that they don’t touch delicate pieces nearly as often as the adults do.

At a few shows I’ve been quite surprised by how long some people will linger/ how deep they will dig into the lore — some people will stay and read every piece of NFC subtext // that’s always exciting.

*3D Printed models Tagged with NFC chips - Photo by Dustin Finkelstein*

What is a dream project you’d like to make one day?

My dream project would be to make an MMO [Massively Multiplayer Online Game] game world; it’d be incredible to influence and help generate a large shared experience like that. I like to dream that a lot of my smaller projects now might be building towards something of that scale later down the line.