Jan James is a Utah artist who continues to push the boundaries of current social issues and imagery infused with the traditional process of visual art. James's work has been featured at the Annual Utah Spring Salon in Springville, Utah and at the Annual Western Federation of Water Media at the San Diego Watercolor Society in San Diego, California.

AERIAL ALCHEMY

Alchemists throughout time were both philosophers and explorers of their material world. They set out to transform the base elements of the earth intosomething precious, and in the process, transform themselves. Like the alchemists, I work with ground and powdered pigments made of earth. Colors like genuine lapis lazuli, hematite, and "mars" black conjure up images of simmering, spitting paint pots that need to be stirred. Materials both simple and rare become images fixed on paper and in the mind. Compounding matter into new forms, I strive to reflect our everyday events and the spaces around us, for we are all living in a time of transformation.

This body of work uses symbols which mingle architectural, natural and historical elements to emphasize the contrasts in our present day world. The movement this creates is the result of juxtaposing components against each other. My paintings are worked on right-side-up and upside-down---spinning and moving from easel to table and back as I seek the rhythm for each piece. Leaf-like human figures are incorporated as symbols of the fragility of human existence within our vast and complex environment. These air-borne human shapes twist, curl, project and float through a world of symbolic forms and meanings, conveying our common experience of both connection and disconnection with our environment.

My paintings become amalgams of objects and everyday events infused into the wholeness of an imagined space. In creating these pieces, I am drawn to the visual contrast created by combining water color, gouache and acrylic paints to emphasize transparency and opacity. I experiment by crushing, pouring, dropping, and mixing each medium into a variety of techniques. Heavy pillars turn into clouds, corridors lead to the gear driven moon, and icons of our age hurl into space. It is in this volatility that I discover the wonder of the world around me. In the spirit of the alchemists who explored the transformational processes of separation and joining, I hope that we can all discover that which is truly precious.

EDUCATION

2010 MFA University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah
2008 BFA Utah State University

EXHIBITIONS

2010 Solo Show, Aerial Alchemy, The City Library, Salt Lake City, Utah
2010 Faculty Exhibition, Westminster College, Salt Lake City, Utah
2010 Fathom, Central Utah Art Center, Ephraim, Utah
2010 Mind The Gap, Garfo Art Center, Salt Lake City, Utah
2010 Special Exhibition, Aperture Gallery, Salt Lake City, Utah
2010 86th Annual Utah Spring Salon, Springville, Utah
2010 Aerial Alchemy, solo show, Gittins Gallery, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah
2010 Who Do They Think They Are, Gittins Gallery, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah
2009 34th Annual Western Federation of WS, San Diego Watercolor Society, San Diego, California
2009 Bountiful Davis Art Center State Wide Competition, Bountiful, Utah
2009 Water color Exhibition, Springville Art Museum, Springville, Utah
2009 Going South, Provo City Library, Group show, Provo , Utah
2008 BFA Show, Utah State University,
2007 Solo Show, EL Gallery, Logan, Utah.
2007 Undergraduate Show, Utah State University
2005 Utah Watercolor Society Spring Show, Park City, Utah
2004 Utah Watercolor Society Spring Show, Ogden, Utah
2004 Hand Cart Days, Bountiful Davis Art Center, Bountiful, Utah
2004 Bountiful Davis Art Center Christmas Show, Bountiful, Utah
2004 Bountiful Davis Art Center Artists On The Street, Bountiful, Utah
2003 Bountiful Davis Art Center Faculty Show, Bountiful, Utah
2003 Hand Cart Days, Bountiful Davis Art Center, Bountiful, Utah
2003 Magpies Nest Gallery 1-foot Show, Salt Lake City, Utah
2003 Bountiful Davis Art Center Christmas Show, Bountiful, Utah

AWARDS

2010 Third Place, First Annual Student Invitational Exhibition at Williams Fine Art Gallery, Salt Lake City, Utah
2003 Peoples Choice Award, Hand Cart Days, Bountiful Davis Art Center, watercolor
2004 Third place, Bountiful Davis Art Center, oil

TEACHING

2009/2011 Instructor, Art Department, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah
2010/2011 Instructor, Art Department, Westminster College, Salt Lake City, Utah
2002/2006 Instructor, Bountiful Davis Art Center, Bountiful, Utah