Hart James - Songs of the Earth

July 6 - 29, 2023
Artist’s Reception: Thursday, July 6, 6-8 PM
Open House: Saturday, July 8, 2-4 PM

In Songs of the Earth, Hart James expresses the energy of nature in her abstract landscape paintings that is tamed by her stylized organization of rocks, water and sky. Through her visceral depictions, the artist tantalizes the viewer with glimpses of lush greenery intertwined with elongated trees and wispy branches, or flowing rivers and cascading waterfalls. With her appreciation and knowledge of the organic world, having grown up on a farm in Kentucky, she channels her artistic pulse into the movement of the paint.

Hart James reflects on her artistic process: “Painting must be done quickly to retain freshness, to capture the energy. The act of painting quickly requires an inner attunement. When I tackle a painting, I put on loud music. I might immediately begin dancing or I might break out into dance in the middle of painting. The pounding beat of the music directs me. Just as African American Gospel goers find their soul through singing and foot stomping, just as Native Americans stomp their feet to the ground to connect with the earth, I lose my thoughts and seek my soul, my intuition to paint.“

Click here to view additional work by Hart James