"James Borden doesn't just build clocks, he creates sculptures that tell time." -Smithsonian Magazine

Borden is known nationwide for his business, Timeshapes, which sells large, hand-carved wooden clocks with sweeping levers, wheels and exposed gears whittled from black walnut, cherry wood and hickory.

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.

Timeshapes clocks have been shown in the Smithsonian, the Milwaukee Museum of Art, and the Chicago Botanical Gardens.

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 is married to Barbara Kopperud, with daughter Irina and son Alex. He has recently moved to Sibley, Iowa, where his wife is pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church. James is currently restoring an old store building on the main street of Sibley where he will continue to create all-wood kinetic sculptures called Timeshapes.