Jim Doran

Work samples

Brains: a postmodern Prometheus story

Brains is a Prometheus tale warning us not to loose our heads over AI. This was an experiment to see if I could make use of generative AI while still presenting "the hand of the artist" in an unambiguous way. I spent weeks generating thousands of images to arrive at 125 usable backgrounds.

I used generative AI to:
Magus Jimcognito

2024 brought another fabulous edition of the Sweaty Eyeballs Animation Festival to Baltimore, which included the physical Animation Adjacent exhibit. Animation Adjacent arrived with it's very own variety show. I screened my 77 second animation, Magus Incognito at both the main festival and as part of the variety show. I also made 20+ cut paper dioramas that reference Magus Incognito for this exhibit. I improvised music to a playful 4:44 video entitled ESP and other Games that I created for the variety show.

I've created a project entry below for this work, as it's too big for this space.
Lunatics

While searching for “animals of alien origin” in deep space, a crew of astronauts discover it's all fun and games until someone breaks the gravity generator.

I made this animation with cut paper puppets on a homemade multiplane camera stand. I created the characters, the story, the audio and sound effects. The Lunatics has screened at several festivals.
Brood X

A short animation celebrating our cicada invaders during the summer of 2021. This was commissioned for the Denver Digerati Silent Screen festival, which ran in September 2021 in Denver.

The puppets and figures are cut paper, and I shot this a frame at a time (24 frames per second).

I wrote and recorded and the music.

About Jim

2024 OTW Artist Baltimore City 2025 Finalists

I make cut paper dioramas, animated films, weird music, and I write code for the Internet. I'm happiest when I combine all these. I have a BA in music composition, and an MFA in studio art. I've participated in two exhibitions at the American Visionary Art Museum, my films are internationally screened, and I have a couple of awards from the Maryland State Arts Council. Please visit my website: https://jimdoran.art/, which is a big… more

Magus Incognito & Animation Adjacent

"The lips of wisdom are closed, except to the ears of Understanding."
-The Kybalion

The Kybalion, a mysterious and obscure book about ancient Hermetic philosophy, was published in 1908. The original author(s) were listed as "The Three Initiates." There is a compelling theory that William Walker Atkinson is the real, sole author. Atkinson sometimes published under the pseudonym Magus Incognito. I made this 77 second animation for the First Hermetic International Film Festival, and it won Best Animation in 2023.

Magus Incognito then screened at the 2024 Sweaty Eyeballs Animation Festival. I was invited to participate in the festival's physical show, called Animation Adjacent at Baltimore's Area 405 space. I created over 20 works of art relating to The Kybalion, Magus Incognito, and my lifelong interest in extrasensory perception and metaphysics.

On October 11, 2024, Area 405 hosted the Animation Adjacent Variety Show, featuring performances by some of the artists in this exhibit. I made an audience participation video which tested viewers on their natural abilities with ESP. My daughter Lily Doran and I improvised music and sound to the video. Magus Incognito was screened as part of the evening's program.

This section of my Baker portfolio showcases Magus Incognito, the variety show performance, and the art exhibited at Area 405.

Magus Jimcognito

I made 20+ dioramas for the Animation Adjacent part of Sweaty Eyeballs Animation Festival. It was great incorporating physical art, music performance and animation into one event. I loved it.
Lily Doran and Jim Doran

Lily Doran playing cello while Jim Doran plays guitar through a complex array of guitar pedals to the video ESP and Other Games, which is projected in front of them (us).
ESP and other games (Area 405 performance)

My daughter and I playing music while my wife records the performance.
ESP and other games (Area 405 performance)

My daughter and I improvised music to my video "ESP and Other Games," which draws on my animation Magus Incognito.
Evidence of Spoon Bending

I've provided actual evidence of spoon bending.
The All

"While All is in THE ALL, it is equally true that THE
ALL is in ALL. To him who truly understands this
truth hath come great knowledge."--The Kybalion.

This is my take on "THE ALL."
The Philosopher's Hand

The Hand of the Philosopher, also known as the Hand of the Mysteries, is an alchemical symbol that represents apotheosis, or the transformation of man into god. In this case, it's a really cool painting.
7 Hermetic Principles

The Kybalion describes 7 universal laws, or Hermetic principles, as outlined by Hermes Trismegistus. I created 7 dioramas, one for each principle.
Magus Incognito

The Kybalion, a book about ancient Hermetic philosophy, was published in 1908. The original author(s) were listed as "The Three Initiates," and there is a compelling theory that William Walker Atkinson is the real author. Atkinson sometimes published under the pseudonym Magus Incognito. This 77 second animation is inspired by The Kybalion and its author
ESP and other games (Area 405 performance)

I made a 4:44 video called ESP and Other Games to perform with as part of the Area 405 variety show. My daughter Lily Doran and I improvised sounds to support the experience of viewers as the evaluated their natural talents with extrasensory perception.

It was lovely.

Found and Chosen

As a coping mechanism for the collective anxiety we all felt during the pandemic, I took long walks through my neighborhood in Baltimore City, and later, other cities. It was a form of meditation. This developed into a practice of mindfulness. I was able to quiet my thoughts and become present. I noticed and found delight in objects and sounds that I previously might have overlooked.

Found and Chosen is a exhibition of compelling materials gathered during the pandemic. I used some of these materials and sounds to make new work, including several films and recordings. Using a generous grant from the Maryland State Arts Council, I was able to produce a CD/Cassette to coincide with an exhibition at the Hamilton Gallery.

The Art of War

I used archival prints that were discarded from the Naval art archive and old copies of LIFE magazine. This animation is the first part of a longer work about the futility of war and fascism.

All the animation was made under a DSLR camera, frame by frame. I made the music which accompanies this.
PLASTICLAND

Plasticland is a stop motion animation filmed over four seasons in my backyard. It features trash I found in the road, and things people discarded.

I used an iPhone and stop motion software. I created all the audio from found sounds recorded with the same iPhone, and I made the sound effects.
Album Cover

The Found and Chosen album cover. This full length CD contains a library of found sounds recorded and manipulated durning my walks during the pandemic. It also features 6 compositions made with this same sound library.

The CD and cassette (designed for making physical tape loops) were made with a creativity grant from the Maryland State Arts Council.
Found and Chosen at Hamilton Gallery

Part of the "Found and Chosen" exhibition at the Hamilton Gallery (2023). The prints on the right side of this gallery photo are the actual naval prints that I animated in The Art of War (see video in the section).
Plasticland Installation

Not only is Plasticland a short animated film, it's an installation play-set. This video is documentation of the installation at the Hamilton Gallery in Baltimore, and features some 3D animated scenes featuring 3D scans of some of Plasticland's inhabitants. All sound and video were made by me.
Found Object

Exhibited works of some of the more compelling letters, cards and objects found in the neighborhood during the pandemic.
Atlas of Found Objects

I didn't bring everything that I found home with me. I usually took a photo. The "Atlas of Found Objects" shows 45 of my favorite discoveries, including their geolocation information, which can be used on any map app to see where they were discovered.
CDs and Cassettes

Free giveaway: CD and Cassettes of my found sound library created in the pandemic. A full track listing is at https://jimdoran.art/fac/

The cassette contains detailed instructions for creating tape loops. All the sounds on this media were made by me, and intended to be used in compositions by the holder of these CDs/tapes.
3-cravistans.jpg

One of my better discoveries, three power restricting devices, called "cravistans." I found them over the course of three days (one per day) in the grass.
Plasticland Installation in the front window at the gallery

Plasticland Installation in the front window at the Hamilton gallery.

S.Ex. (Sound Experiments)

This collection features sound experiments and accompanying video/animation. I love making these.

The Shadow of His Doubt

My 2024 album The Shadow of His Doubt available on Bandcamp via Scientifically Sound Records is a guitar based recording.

I played all the instruments. Written and recorded in 2024 in my studio.
Electric Cow Head

I wrote and recorded this in the Spring of 2024.
S. ex. no. 28: about to fall apart

I recorded and animated this in July of 2024.
S.Ex. no. 15

Featuring iPhone video, animated drawings from my trip to Puerto Rico in 2022, and a song I wrote in my head over the trip.
S. ex. no. 30: Talk it

I recorded the drums in my basement, and then added a guitar track and bass track, each made in one take. I assembled the video and animation using vintage footage and materials in the public domain. Summer, 2024.
Edward Gorey's Oven

Using a Kilter guitar pedal from Champion Leccy in Philadelphia, I recorded a guitar track to accompany a photo I took of the late Edward Gorey's oven in Yarmouth, MA. Sound Experiment no. 16.
La Vie en Rose

Stop motion animation and a hand drawn "Crankie" telling the story of a the day in the life of a solitary scholar.
S.Ex. no. 13

Prepared guitar, and a new use for bread ties.
S.Ex. no. 10

Of alligators, and other alligators. Pocket video and hand drawn animation from my last trip to Florida, with heavily processed guitar.
Higher Ed

Made with animated clippings from discarded issues of College and University Journal, iPhone video and audio all captured in an academic library.

The Benefits of Radiation

When I was young, I got into a great deal of trouble for melting various army men and cowboys together to create new toys. I still enjoy making new characters, and I make molds of the more compelling figures so that I can reproduce them. I have digitally scanned some, like the red Birdman Roshambo and the Cactus Cowboy, in order to make 3D prints.

The Benefits of Radiation is an animation that tells the backstory of these transmuted figures shown in this entry. This is a hand-drawn animation, for which I recorded and produced all the audio.

The Benefits of Radiation

The Benefits of Radiation is hand drawn animation that tells the backstory of some of my sculpture figures (which can be viewed elsewhere in this portfolio). I recorded the bar sounds at the Hamilton Tavern in Baltimore, and produced all the foley, sound effects and musical accompaniment in my studio. This has been screened at Maryland Art Place, the JHU/MICA "Made in Baltimore" festival, and the Sweaty Eyeballs 2021 animation festival.
Roshambo

3D print of a melted composite figure
Cactus Cowboy

3D print of cactus cowboy
Stinky Villains

Cast plastic figures
Trailer for Stinky Villains

I made this short trailer for the stinky villain prototypes.
Pet Sidekick

Brass, 3D print of a digitally scanned figure. 2.5" x 1.2" x 1.5"
Captain Legs

Melted toy Army figure
Cactus Cowboy in the Wild

Cactus headed cowboy at work.
Lobster Men

Plastic casts of lobster tail man.
Roshambo and the Lobster Man

Roshambo and the Lobster Man - a scene from the Benefits of Radiation

A Job as the Moon

I had a lovely dream that I was hired to be the Moon. This animation highlights some of that dream.

The animation happens on a 50' scroll of black tyvek, some of which is filmed under black lights. I set the film to Clair de Lune by Claude Debussy, performed by Amber Short.

Job as the Moon

Stop motion animation about my dream where I got a job as the moon.
Sweaty Eyeballs Official Selection 2020

Job as the Moon was screened at the Sweaty Eyeballs Animation Festival, and at the Brentwood Arts Exchange summer exhibition, "Going Dark."
My Predecessor

My predecessor retired, She was not fired. Her name was Clair de Lune.
Space is filled with Mars complaining...

Space is filled with Mars complaining. #$%^@!!!!!
crocodile

The heavy of the film, Croc!
Late afternoon had a calamity

Late afternoon had a calamity, Crocodile chose to eat his daughter...
The Daughter of Day

A decoy made of hay, that looked just like the daughter of Day.
The Daughter of Day

The daughter of Day returns...
Me, as the moon

Me, as the moon.

Scientifically Sound Questions

Scientifically Sound Questions are a series of animations that seek to answer life's big questions. I created an accompanying website where visitors can ask questions for me to answer in future animations.

The animations unfold on scrolls of paper, and feature cut paper puppets, my foley/sound effects and an accompanying soundtrack.

Scientifically Sound Questions

Scientifically Sound Questions, part one. I animated this on a long, single roll of paper. Completed in 2020.
Scientifically Sound Questions: Coronavirus Edition

Scientifically Sound Questions: Coronavirus Edition seeks to answer some questions about COVID-19 with science. I produced this animation on a single scroll of paper, with puppets, visual effects and foley/sounds. The Scientifically Sound Questions series, which can been seen elsewhere in the portfolio, was inspired by conversations with my teenage daughter.
The Bureau of Scientifically Sound Questions

The Bureau of Scientifically Sound Questions is a website I created where visitors can ask their own questions to be answered in future editions of Scientifically Sound Questions. https://bureauofscientificallysoundquestions.org/
Coronavirus Question

A scene in Scientifically Sound Questions, COVID-19 edition.
If you look young?

A scene in Scientifically Sound Questions.
A question about cavities

A scene in Scientifically Sound Questions.
What shape is your itch?

Learn the answer to the Scientifically Sound Question, "What shape is your itch?" by watching my animation.
Is COVID-19 a hoax?

Learn the scientific truth about COVID-19 by watching my film.
Are we also a GMO?

Learn about the effect of GMO based foods in Scientifically Sound Questions!
Are Brains Squishy?

Find out if brains (even YOUR brains) are squishy in my Scientifically Sound Questions series.

American Visionary Art Museum

I've been so very fortunate to have participated in two shows at the American Visionary Art Museum: THE ART OF STORYTELLING: Lies, Enchantment, Humor & Truth and The Great Mystery Show. AVAM is one of my favorite parts of Baltimore, and has been instrumental in my development as an artist.

Three Dioramas

Three dioramas on display at the American Visionary Art Museum.
Always

Cut paper diorama in an old soap tin.
The Ghost of Triton

My father and I loved sharing smoked herring, and I always loved the tins that required a key to open them. This cut paper diorama shows the ghost of triton in the sea, surrounded by creatures with eyes the truly glow in the dark.
A Reunion

Cut paper diorama in a pocket watch. I love the idea of being reunited with what we love.
Crosshatched characters

As part of my artist talk, I demonstrated cross hatching, which is one of the traits I share with Edward Gorey. He was also featured in the Great Mystery Show, and we had fun learning about his life and work. I made a zine to accompany this talk, which can be found in the "Other Projects" part of this portfolio.
Ghost in the Grandmother Clock

Another cut paper diorama, showing a grandmother clock and elements relating to my father's side of the family.
THE ART OF STORYTELLING: Lies, Enchantment, Humor & Truth

Three dioramas, and a letter sent to my best friend during college in THE ART OF STORYTELLING: Lies, Enchantment, Humor & Truth show at AVAM.
Jim Doran

I'm explaining something to two nice people.
Monofilament

This diorama is in a cassette tape case, which was given to me by my best friend in high school. While he passed away in the 90's, he continues to be an influence and guide in my life today. Everything in this scene points to our connection.
A Dark and Gorey Night

I gave an artist talk, discussing my place in the Great Mystery Show, as well as the work of Edward Gorey, who was fond of wearing a fur coat.

Small Stories and Other Stories

Small Stories and Other Stories, a solo show at the Hamilton Gallery, collected over 80 dioramas that illustrated multiple storylines and themes.

My favorite is the story of the widower tailor, which appears in the manlte clock. He discovers that if one looks through the handles of scissors previously owned by other widowed tailors/cloth merchants/seamstresses on the 13th day of the 13th month during a full moon, one can see into the Land of the Dead. He's collected many such scissors, and some of these appeared on the wall next to the clock in the gallery.

Small Stories flier
Advent of the Unlikelies

A set of Altoids smalls showing a group of characters evolved from spacedust, in an advent calendar.
Hope is in the Ocean

Diorama in a discarded tin of clams.
Small Stories

A collection of small dioramas containing some of my favorite storylines.
4-shadowboxes.png

4 Shadow boxes
Birds of a Feather

Alfred Hitchcock and Edgar Allen Poe discuss their worlds on a bench in a graveyard.
Diorama in a mantle clock case

The Widower tailor conducts research using scissors of late tailors/cloth merchants/seamstresses in an attempt to connect with his dearly departed.
Inside the tailor's shop

The scene inside the clock diorama shows a widower tailor examining scissors of late tailors and cloth merchants, that be might gaze into the Land of the Dead on the thirteenth day of the thirteenth month under the lights of a full moon to see his beloved.
Tailor Scissors

Scissors from late tailors and cloth merchants, each labeled with the previous owner's name.
Store Front View of Hamilton Gallery

Store Front View of Hamilton Gallery

Two Worlds Touch: Greenbelt Community Center Art

Debuting large scale drawings at The Greenbelt Community Center Art, I decided to weave a single story into almost all the pieces of this show. The cornerstone is the map, which points the viewer to the key elements of the story. For example, the map shows a paddock of the Four Horsemen, and on the opposite wall in the gallery stands a 10' drawing of the Horsemen waiting to ride out.

Where Two Worlds Touch

Installation at the Greenbelt Cultural Center, with several long drawings, shadow boxes and dioramas.
Two Worlds Touch

A 20' long comic and two large drawings with cut-outs above the cabinets.
A giant centipede chasing some rabbits

This shows the left diorama in the installation, which measured 8' x 4'.
A lonely path in the Land of the Dead

8' x 4' diorama showing a lonely road in the land of the dead.
Land of the Dead

I created a map of what is known of the Land of the dead, and this map is the cornerstone of the show.
Three Shadow Boxes

Three cut paper shadow boxes.
Graveyard Visit

Two skeletons greeting happily in a Twinings Earl Grey tin.
Dioramas on Pedestal

Various dioramas under glass
The Four Horsemen

10' x 4' drawing on Tyvek showing the Four Horsemen in their paddock in the Land of the Dead.
Charon

10" x 10" cut paper diorama showing Charon in the dead sea helping a ship along to the Land of the Dead.

Memento Mori

This is work from my first solo show at School33 in 2011, which was one of my first shows anywhere. This material heavily relied upon and explored my theories on an afterlife.

Memento-Mori.jpg

Memento Mori postcard for School33. I also made a zine with details about all the pieces in the show.
IMG_1890.JPG

Just before the opening of Memento Mori at School33.
The Project Space

Partial view of the project space at School33. The dioramas made a story, if one walked to the left upon entering the room.
A Muse When You Need Her

A tiny diorama featuring paper cut-outs.
The Guide

A rare Altoids gum tin featuring cut paper diorama showing a guide from the beyond offering support to the living.
The Death Watch Beetle

When the Beetle opens its wings, we can see into the Land of the Dead. Here, Charon (the ferryman) is launching a ship across the dead sea.
HOSSENFEFFER & THE CURRY GOAT ATTACK

A tiny cut paper diorama depicting Jack Ruby's dinner coming to an abrupt halt.
Shipwreck Lake

Paper Cut-outs in sardine tin. A beast of a jellyfish emerges from the dark seaweed and plant life in the background to become entangled in a ship's anchor. The bottom of the lake is littered with sunken ships.
The Ghoul and the Grackles

Research administrators try to barter with the ghoul for a corpse, all in the name of science. Cut paper diorama in a Hershey's Cocoa tin.
See into the Land of the Dead

Two open coffins offer a glimpse down into the Land of the Dead (which is illuninated by a tiny, battery powered light).