Ian James Roche Discusses 'Intimacy Eclipso' Dan's Cover Art

This week’s Dan’s Papers cover artist Ian James Roche discusses his large, abstract pastel on sheetrock, “Intimacy Eclipso,” and his unique point of view and creative process.

A Conversation with Ian James Roche

Tell me about “Intimacy Eclipso.” What’s your process for creating abstracts like this?

“Intimacy Eclipso” came from a book titled Hostage to the Devil by Malachi Martin. A bit of a scary book about exorcisms, and there is a part in the book where a priest is talking about when Mary Magdalene washed Jesus’ feet with her hair. So when I read this, I could see the image and remembered having somewhat of a sensual feeling come over me, and I could also feel how intimate it could be. The image had a powerful healing energy, to bend down before someone to wash their feet and it made me think about real intimacy and healing.

So the painting is the image of Mary washing Jesus’ feet and illuminates this experience in a beautiful combination of color and movement, and on the day that I was finishing this piece, it was the solar eclipse of 2017 and that is where I got “eclipso” from. Intimacy is a healing energy that can eclipse over us, in a good way of course. And this is 1 of 2 pieces of work that I have done a preliminary sketch for. Most of my work is done without any preliminary sketches or outlines beforehand.

Sheetrock is an interesting medium to work on. Are you conjuring the idea of frescos on the wall?

The idea to use sheetrock came from artist Sol Lewitt who had these full wall pencil drawings at Dia in Beacon, New York in 2014. I just looked at the walls and said, “Man, I want to do that.” I believe it was on my drive home from Dia that I came up with the idea to use sheetrock. I figured I didn’t have a wall to draw on, so I can just bring a piece of wall home with me. A week later I picked up an 8 x 4-foot piece of sheetrock and some soft pastels and created my first piece, “Birth of a Superhero.” I guess you can say that I was conjuring up the idea to do frescos on walls, which I did end up doing. I was commissioned to do a wall drawing at the Slomin’s main corporate office in Bethpage in 2021.

Is using pastels on such a large surface physically demanding?

The sheetrock can be a bit cumbersome to move in a limited amount of space. I am OK with the weight of it, but the length of the 8-foot pieces makes it tricky to move in my studio, And when I have the pieces framed and covered with museum plexiglass, they are heavy but I make it work. I will need a bigger studio eventually. When I thought of using sheetrock, intuitively it just felt good to me. The pastel on the sheetrock just made sense, so I went with it. I like working big and want to continue working on big pieces but I do smaller pastel pieces and smaller pencil/ink drawings as well. I have started using masonite within the past couple of years and I also have a big piece of canvas I am working on. And the pastel itself is challenging.

I don’t think I use the pastels in a traditional way. It gets messy and I have to do a good amount of cleaning up and shaping the forms that I create so I really have to work to bring a piece into beauty. This is just my intuitive process. I didn’t have any formal art schooling so I am learning as I go by trusting my intuition. I was influenced to use soft pastel because I own three soft pastel abstract paintings of my father’s which he had done while he was in therapy in a rehabilitation center when he was still alive.

You’ve said your art is your teacher. What does it teach you?

I started doing these paintings 10 years ago when I was 35. At that point in my life I was making a big transition into my true creative self and asking for healing, and the paintings are evidence of this transformation into healing. I can remember times after finishing a painting and having a better understanding of something philosophical or spiritual, so I would feel a bit more wise. The paintings help me understand my sensitivity and reveal what is in my heart.

In your artist’s statement, you talk about how you use “dreams, imagination, personal experiences, books, movies, music, people, or places that I know as catalysts to spark an image.” How do these things take shape in a composition that is not representational?

Well, the dreams, imagination etc. really just spark a feeling and I start to see a color, or a line or shape and go from there. I never really know where I am going with my paintings and don’t follow a concrete image. I do my best to listen to my intuition and what comes out is the energy that I picked up on from these inspirations, and what you have is a visual representation of how I see love and beauty in the world.

Who are your artistic influences?

I am very inspired by the music of Jimi Hendrix, Jack White, Hozier and Andre 3000. And for visual artists it would be Sol Lewitt, Richard Serra, John Singer Sargent. And I really admire the work of David Tremlett and a few other more contemporary artists.

Do you have any new shows or projects coming up?

I have been submitting my work to different galleries in New York so I am looking to have a show in 2025.

Where can people see your work?

Paintings and commissioned pieces I have sold are owned privately so there aren’t any public displays of my work as of now, but my work can be viewed online at ianjamesroche.com and @ianjamesroche on Instagram.

Is there anything you’d like to add?

I hope to spread the message of my work more and more, and that it serves people well. For commissions and art inquiries, people can contact me at 516-480-7789 or email me at ianjamesroche@gmail.com.