James Borden was born and raised in Rockford, Illinois. He graduated from Dana College in 1980 with a Bachelor of Arts degree and a major in Humanities. He graduated from Wartburg Theological Seminary in 1987 with a Master of Divinity Degree. James has recently moved to La Crescent, Minnesota, with his wife Barbara Kopperud, daughter Irina, and son Alex. In an octagon barn that he built in Zumbrota, Minnesota, James creates all-wood kinetic sculptures called Timeshapes.
 

Timeshapes are essentially mechanical weight-driven or spring-driven clocks, every part of which has been designed and built by James Borden. The pendulums and escapements are also of the artist’s own design. Timeshapes exhibit a wide, graceful motion and soft, woody, clicking sounds which are mesmerizing and relaxing to watch and hear.
 

In his Timeshapes, James Borden presents a different vision of the passage of time: Less frenetic and urgent than the normal ticking of a clock; slower paced; peaceful; playful; something easier to live with.