Craig James is a 2019 Access Arts SAFE Grant recipient.
The SAFE Fund provides one-off funding opportunities for artists living with disability or disadvantage to access new opportunities and remove barriers to their professional career development.
Craig is a Gladstone based artist who explores the close human-animal and technological relationship with his service/assistance dog named Ruby. Examples of this human-animal and technological relationship include Ruby adopting digital strategies to stream her own YouTube clips or partake in video calls, support networks that are contactable 24/7, an online university degree, robotic surgery, medical appointments using Skype, the list is endless.
Instead of being isolated in the Central Queensland region, a diverse digital realm has allowed them to slowly but surely begin to connect with others, not only locally but throughout the entire state. “Best Friends Forever” (BFF) offers not a dysfunctional life but one that is enriched by thinking outside the box – Craig and Ruby both have embraced diversity and found a contemporary way of wellbeing. WOOF!
Craig’s artwork is included in the State of Diversity, the touring exhibition of the 2019 Queensland Regional Art Awards.