EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED

FROM HIS NEW STUDIO IN BROOKLYN, ARTIST JAMES CHERRY IS HONING HIS MATERIAL LANGUAGE TO SCALE UP HIS HANDMADE LOW-FI LIGHTS—ONE COMMISSION AT A TIME

- HANNAH MARTIN

It was 2019 and he was living in a cramped New York City apartment with three roommates, having recently graduated from the Studio Arts program at Bard College. “I needed a lamp,” recalls the artist. “I had these boxers that got a tear in them, so I made a little clay armature and wrapped the fabric around it.”