Ollie McSweeney, Contributing Writer
The Archetypical Symbiosis exhibition is part of a new annual mural project held at Fine Arts in the Open Space Gallery. The three murals depict a frog, a heron, and a predatory cat. When asked about why he chose these three animals and what they represented, McIlroy answered as follows; “This mural depicts the idea of three animals in a food chain. These animals depend on their environment to survive and thrive. We all depend on our environment to survive. No matter what creatures we identify with, no matter if we think we are above the balance of
nature – we are all in this together.” This exhibition addresses current environmental issues, putting emphasis on the fact that animals need us just as much as we need them right now.
The SUNY Oneonta Gallery Director Sarah Simpson approached McIlroy about this project at the end of last summer, after he had painted a large mural in a tunnel near Binghamton University. He worked on Archetypal Symbiosis in the Open Space Gallery from late January 2025, to early April 2025. The paints used for this project were donated by Golden Artist Colors Inc. and the SUNY Oneonta Alumni Association. McIlroy expressed how he isn’t used to using high quality paints when he first started out as an artist, “I’m used to using whatever I have lying around. I’ve learned all sorts of techniques over the years and I suggest young artists learn as many different techniques as they can.” Techniques he suggests include square gridding (his personal favorite), free handing, doodle gridding, and the projection of images onto walls.
James R. McIlroy is a local artist who has made murals in Oneonta, Binghampton, Cortland, and Saratoga Springs. He owns and works as the lead artist at a tattoo studio located on Main Street in Oneonta called Wolfhound Studio. To create his mural art, McIlroy takes a picture of the space and uses the digital art program Procreate to sketch out ideas. He credits Visual Communications I and II high school courses for this brainstorming method. For the last few years, McIlroy has been using white Prismacolor pencils on black paper to sketch as well.
For Archetypal Symbiosis, McIlroy worked in the gallery a few days a week for a couple of hours at a time so students could ask him questions about and observe his process. McIlroy is more used to surrealist styles but instead chose a different route for this mural and decided to break down each animal into shapes. This was the most difficult challenge for this work, and it ended up inspiring the mural’s title. He draws inspiration for all of his art from nature, and in turn studies a lot of animal anatomy. “The hardest part was breaking down the shapes and still having it look like the basic representation of the animals I was trying to depict. Learning anatomy helped inform my decision making when coming up with the shapes and structures of each animal.” The inspiration for this piece came from McIlroy and his wife Liz’s love for fairytales, storytelling, and indigenous folklore. They admire the message of being kind to the earth and to animals, but McIlroy aims to reflect this message in his work.
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