James Erikson is an artist and librarian from Philadelphia. He makes paintings, prints, artists’ books, drawings, and sculptures. Born in Plainfield, New Jersey, at an early age he moved to rural Central Pennsylvania. There he spent a childhood immersed in the fields and woods that have influenced his paintings ever since. He has shown his work in galleries in Pennsylvania, New York, and Ohio. Erikson received his MFA from SUNY Purchase and his MLS from CUNY Queens.

Statement

For over 25 years as an artist, I have been exploring a connection between light and space and the emotions they evoke. I’m interested in the evocation of memory of time, place, light, color, and scale. Considering the architecture and craft of ancient cultures enables me to ruminate on those huge human experiences of life and death and memorial.

My paintings are most concerned with light: light of a particular season, a time of day, a specific place; color derived from nature; texture that makes the linen feel like an old textile, a tapestry or rug. Lately, I've been traveling more regularly and these experiences inform the imagery in my work.