Terrell James

Terrell James, a well-known Texan contemporary artist, paints the natural world through her own unique abstract lens. Her work emerges from her close attention to organic form; her process mirrors its emergence in the landscape and in nature. Although they interpret rather than depict the landscape, the organic shapes of her works allude directly to their origins in plants, animals, fossils and glaciers. James’ expressions of her ‘familiar obsessions’ flow automatically from the subconscious as her works unfold.

'Imagery is abstracted from particular places, or objects I have seen. I am trying to paint, draw and sculpt the essence of my experience, to share it in paint through light and color’ 

Terrell James 

Most striking about James’ works, both on canvas and on paper, are her explorations of colour and her invention of original hues to reflect her subjects. The inner radiance she generates through adding, taking away and layering her pigments is inherent in everything she makes. The imaginative openness of her practice, with its layering of new visions over traces of previous inventions, invites repeated encounters. Seeing her work is, in itself, a form of introspection as new associations arise in this continuing process of interpretation. Complex yet harmonious, James creates open paintings that offer the viewer the freedom to perceive. 

Working from her studio in her hometown of Houston, Texas, she produces both intimate canvasses and vigorous mural-scale works in oil. James has been included in over two hundred group shows and has completed over fifty solo exhibitions across the world. Her work is included in many museum collections, including: The Boston Museum of Art, Dallas Museum of Art, and the Whitney Museum of American Art. In 2013, she was awarded the Design Award in Art by the Decorative Center of Houston. In 2016, she was named Texas Artist of the Year by the Art League Houston. She has been represented by Cadogan Contemporary in London since 2015.