James Higginson's photographic installation "Sacrifice" scrutinizes the relationship of father/country and son/vassal in a tableaux provided by popular culture, while offering a freeze-frame peek into interpersonal dynamics. Sacrifice is from a larger series, entitled Portraits of Violence, in which the artist uses large-scale, intricately-staged photographs to examine violence in contemporary culture. By heightening the way media presents violence, these photographs force an awareness of the fictions that lie within this imagery and of our acceptance of these fictions. This work consciously aestheticizes the violent, reflecting the methodology of television, movies, and the nightly news. Such representations, seamlessly woven into the fabric of society,

become a part of our development. Higginson's interest is in how the line between reality and representation becomes progressively less distinct as our conception of violence is culturally transmitted, handed down from generation to generation. As war looms, the metaphor and nuances of Sacrifice offer a brutal linking of the pedagogy of the media with our response to the present.

James Higginson attended Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA and the Claremont Graduate School, CA. Recent solo exhibitions include POST and MillerDurazo Gallery in Los Angeles. Upcoming solo exhibitions includes C/O Berlin, Germany. Recent group exhibitions include Gallery Kobo Chika in Tokyo and POST in Los Angeles.