James Busby

While James Busby's work at first glance looks like Minimalism, his process has more in common with Abstract Expressionism. Rather than meticulously planning a painting, Busby meticulously adds and subtracts while painting. He applies oils, acrylics and graphite, sands and burnishes the surface, applies some more and sands again, forever revising until he finds the painting in the paint, usually after a long, organic, sometimes tedious but meditative, even ritualistic process executed in part in an unconscious state. As a result, Busby’s paintings are heavily layered and full of surprise and nuance, adding great depth to the smoothness and cleanness that dominate their appearance from a distant. The mystery of both process and result fascinates Busby, who wants to surprise himself and his audience, hoping the work resonates without the viewer exactly knowing why. Making the expected unexpected, challenging perceptions and enhancing his and his viewers’ self-awareness drives the artist’s work.