Sperm Whale | Adelaide Festival

Contracted by CDM Studio, James completed the detailed airbrushed finishes for a life-sized sperm whale created for the Adelaide Festival. Conceived by Belgium-based art collective Captain Boomer, the installation combined sculpture and performance to encourage conversations about the environment, climate change and humanity's relationship with the natural world.

Working across the whale's 15-metre scale, James developed realistic colour, texture and weathering to replicate the appearance of a living marine mammal. Every surface was carefully layered by hand, from subtle skin variations and scarring through to the mouth and teeth, creating a finish that remained convincing from every angle.

Installed overnight on Glenelg Beach, the hyper-realistic whale quickly attracted hundreds of visitors. Many initially believed it was real, while performers posing as marine scientists blurred the line between fiction and reality, encouraging visitors to question what they were seeing and engage with the artwork's environmental message.

Projects of this scale require more than technical airbrushing skills. They demand a careful understanding of form, light, texture and observation to create immersive work that withstands close inspection while delivering impact at monumental scale.