* All images used with permission. Please do not distribute without first contacting the artist.
Chelsea James paints as a form of study—of existence, spirit, environment, and experiences. She chooses subjects that evoke childhood memories. Through this interaction, she hopes to increase the visual interest of objects that are not inherently meaningful to anybody.
Her landscapes are comprised from drawings, pictures, studies and memories, whereas the interiors are mostly perceptual, and rely in only a small part on memory or studies.
James starts out with a loose drawing, generalized areas highlighted with simple patches of color. She then adds random marks which she refers to ‘deliberate mistakes.’ These require her to react and work towards a new resolution.
She is intrigued by perceptible color, in all its nuance, but her aim is to interpret rather than replicate. She also believes that remnants from the process should remain visible in the final product.