Otis College Faculty Cole M. James on Visual Development, Artist Mavis Pusey, and Examining Ancestral Knowledge
James is an associate professor in the BFA Animation department and teaches in Interdisciplinary Studies.
Cole M. James is an interdisciplinary artist and educator whose work spans digital media, installation, social practice, curation, and visual storytelling. James holds an MFA in Installation and Digital Media from Claremont Graduate University and a BA in Painting from California State University, San Bernardino. James recently shared more on their Animation course, Mavis Pusey’s work, and The Rue Project.
A Recent Course: Visual Development
I’m especially excited about the Visual Development course I created for the Animation department. These classes help students deepen their understanding of shot language, composition, and color as core elements of visual storytelling. They also encourage students to work from short stories rather than relying on familiar animation references, pushing them toward more original ideas. I’ve structured the course as one continuous, scaffolded project that grows in complexity, allowing students to build skills step-by-step throughout the semester.
Artist that Continues to Inspire: Mavis Pusey
Mavis Pusey’s work inspires me, particularly her rigorous approach to abstraction
and urban form. I was recently invited by Ian White ('95 MFA Fine Arts, son of Charles White) to view his collection of her paintings at Pomona College, which was my first opportunity to encounter the work in person.
Experiencing her compositions directly—rather than through digital reproductions—clarified
the precision of her spatial construction and the material sensitivity that defines
her practice. It was a powerful reminder of how essential the physical encounter is
to fully understand an artist’s formal and conceptual contributions.
A Work of My Own: The Rue Project
I was recently awarded an Otis Faculty Development Grant to continue my work on The Rue Project, an ongoing investigation into memory, inheritance, and the material histories carried through the body. The project examines how ancestral knowledge might surface through plant relationships, ritual processes, and the transformation of everyday materials.
A significant part of this work involves tending and gathering plant matter from David Horvitz’s 7th Ave Garden, which has become an important site for material exploration. Several years ago, I buried a collection of shredded debt papers in his garden, and that gesture has evolved into a recurring ritual within the project—an act of returning, metabolizing, and recontextualizing personal and systemic histories through the land.
The Rue Project continues to expand as I develop new methods of working with plant fibers, paper, and the slow archival processes embedded in botanical materials.
More about Otis College’s Animation program.
