Arts committee hosts new featured artist

POINT PLEASANT BEACH — The scratchboard works of Jim Cook, the Point Pleasant Beach Cultural Arts Committee’s current featured artist, are currently on display at borough hall; on Wednesday, Cook told The Ocean Star about his style and body of work.

Cook explained in detail the beginning of his work with scratchboard, a “negative space” medium.

“I do a lot of scratchboard work, which is a form of engraving,” he said. “It dates back to the etching/wood-engraving period. Basically, it’s a relief medium. It starts on a black surface, and you use a sharp tool to etch away the white lines; so, it’s kind of the reverse of inking or drawing.”

He said that he was first introduced to the medium while attending the Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida in 2005. Cook explained to The Ocean Star how he feels his art strikes a balance between fantasy and reality.

“For me it kind of clicked; it’s like a puzzle for me. It’s a deeper level of thought process, almost, because you have to know when to stop, when to walk away,” said Cook. “I picked it up at Ringling College of Art and Design. I was first introduced to it in 2005; I just kind of fell in love with the medium like I had never done before. With the richness of that black-and-white imagery, you get super dark and super light. It really resonated with me.”

“I’m always trying to find a juxtaposition of reality and fantasy. Usually it has kind of an eerie horror vibe. I like the odd, the peculiar; the grotesque, if you will,” Cook explained. “A lot of times I’ll root from classic literature if it’s not strictly horror-based, but for the more involved pieces I definitely try to have that sort of action-adventure aspect in there. And for the horror stuff, I’m really just trying to achieve photorealism with that scratchboard.”

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