Largely self-taught, James "Riv" Pyne began working in found wood and now explores sculpture through a variety of media, including epoxies, plaster, casting stone, wood and bronze. He is a member of the National Sculpture Society and the New England Sculpture Association.

Pyne’s work is an exploration of first impressions and lasting recollections. At the first sight of something unusual, our mind immediately gravitates to the extraordinary aspect of that thing. Riv’s work interprets animals into their most emphatic features. For instance, the neck of a giraffe or the massive shoulders of the buffalo are emphasized, and almost caricaturized. Riv Pyne’s transfigured animals are suggestive, humorous, and vaguely human in their gestural truths.