Dana James’ abstract paintings are fractured multi-panel constructions that mix pastel tones with dark, vivid fields of color. Her work oscillates between energetic, impulsive strokes and calming poetic shapes. Altogether, these works speak of temporality and change. Armed with a combination of acrylic, ink, oil, charcoal, encaustic and resin, James assembles and deconstructs her forms into an always-evolving compositional language. Ultimately, her paintings “serve as visual diaries that speak to contradiction, a latency caromed by intermittent activity."

Dana James was born in 1986 in New York City, NY, and lives in Brooklyn, NY. She received her BFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York, NY (2008).

James’ solo exhibitions include Something I Meant to Say at Hollis Taggart, New York City, NY (2021) and Otherwise All Was Silent at Bode Projects, Berlin, Germany (2020).

She has been featured in group exhibitions such as Love Letter at GRUIN Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (2022); Clean Slate, also at Gruin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (2021); and Sound & Color at SugarLift with the High Line Nine, New York City, NY (2020).

James has also had her work highlighted in outlets such as Artnet News (2021), Asian Curator (2021), ARTnews (2020), and Daily Collector (2020).