Artist based in Los Angeles, CA
Cameron Cameron
For Lovers, 2025, Hand made ceramic pieces, plastic chair, adhesive, grout, 55” x 50” x 30”
“Even now, its craftsmanship and quiet ingenuity remain among the most impactful artistic gestures I’ve ever encountered. That piece taught me about the quiet power of slowness and the act of transforming mundane, abject materials into something beautiful.”
Chandelier, 2024, apoxie, brass, steel, lights, 32" x 32" x 18"
What are you currently working on and where did the inspiration for it come from?
The standard, cheap, plastic yard chairs. They're often being tossed out on the sidewalk in my neighborhood of Highland Park. Sometimes they're broken sometimes they still work. I like to embed other collections of items I find alongside photos into them. Right now I'm embedding clear crystals into one. This is as far as I can partake in California woo-woo culture but I love when other people are able to share their woo-woo knowledge with me.
Studio view
Where do ideas start for you?
I am often envisioning the bouquet of roses made from toilet paper by a female inmate at the Texas State Prison in Huntsville, Texas, my families home town. The bouquet is housed at the Texas Prison Museum, displayed among decades of artwork created by incarcerated men and women from the surrounding penitentiaries in Huntsville.
Even now, its craftsmanship and quiet ingenuity remain among the most impactful artistic gestures I’ve ever encountered. That piece taught me about the quiet power of slowness and the act of transforming mundane, abject materials into something beautiful. It was my first understanding of juxtaposition, and of how beauty can be inherently political.
Left: Windmill, 2025, Steel, aluminum, image transfer, acrylic, foam, clock parts, aquaresin, 28” x 47” x 6”
Right: Getting to Know You, 2025, Collect Lime Bags, plastic lawn chair, archival inkjet print, wood, plastic, 22" x 24" x 34"
Being aware that freedom can be stripped from a person at a very young age and seeing how beauty can live next to it has directly impacted my idea of making art. Art is a privilege and access to material is a form of politics. Currently living in one of the wealthiest places in America, Los Angeles, and teaching high school at a private school, I envy and am inspired by their success and access. However, I’m also thankful for my ability to see potential in whats around me.
Many artists live by their routines, what does that look like for you?
I recently moved my studio into my back porch at my home in LA. It eliminates commute so its been easier to dip into the studio flow.
Who are your biggest influences?
Friends who aren't artist. They keep me in line with how I'm thinking about work outside my studio practice. They're all smart and funny.
MATERIAL GIRLS, The artist collective I'm in. We're officially 10 years in working together and I've never felt lonely as an artist.
My dad for diving into his niche interests.
Are there books or films that are an important source of inspiration?
Books:
How Should A Person Be? By Sheila Heti - I always think back to a side plot in the book about who can make the ugliest painting.
How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy by Jenny Odell - Takeaway for me, true rest and resistance as a form of personal protest.
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers - Take away for me, love across distance, language, and culture.
Watching:
Anything Sci-Fi which feels far from the content of my work.
Star Trek, Next Gen and The Orginal Series. Have you seen how they used to build sets, props, and costumes? Inspirational!
Studio view
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
Your best is a shifting standard based on energy, health, and circumstances, making it perfectly okay for it to look different each day.
What is the best advice you would give to other artists?
Keep on keeping on. Its a marathon not a sprint.
Chandelier, 2024, apoxie, brass, steel, lights, 32" x 32" x 18"
Stay up to date with Cameron Cameron
Website cameron-cameron.com
Instagram @winter_shorts