Gallery Hijinks Artist: Yellena James

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Yellena James grew up and attended art school in Sarajevo. At the age of 18 she moved to the U.S. After gaining her BA in painting and graphic design at UCF, she eventually made her way to Portland, OR.

Preferring pens, inks, markers and acrylics, she combines complex abstract forms into dazzling images which take on lives of their own. Her colorful arrangements of organic shapes and tangled lines are at once floral and alien, organic and sci-fi. Each intimate world she creates seems to posses its own ethos and its own special ability to
radiate emotion.

James has participated in shows around the U.S., as well as overseas, including: solo exhibitions at Giant Robot (San Francisco and Los Angeles, CA), the Here Gallery (Bristol, UK), the Grassy Knoll (Portland, OR) and more. She also has done illustration work for Anthropologie, Nike, K2 Snowboards and many others.

"My latest works further explore the intricate and delicate forms of an imaginary ecosystem, twisting and floating together in an alluring environment. I attempt to create an ethereal place which is hauntingly familiar and yet hypnotically exotic, adding tiny little details in a sort of compulsive meditation, until a perfect balance is created. The intricacy and high detail, along with hints of existing organic shapes lend to the intimacy and believability of each new world. "

Preferring pens, inks, markers and acrylics, Yellena James combines complex abstract forms into dazzling images which take on lives of their own. Her colorful arrangements of organic shapes and tangled lines are at once floral and alien, organic and sci-fi. Each intimate world she creates seems to posses its own ethos and its own special ability toradiate emotion.
"My latest works further explore the intricate and delicate forms of an imaginary ecosystem, twisting and floating together in an alluring environment. I attempt to create an ethereal place which is hauntingly familiar and yet hypnotically exotic, adding tiny little details in a sort of compulsive meditation, until a perfect balance is created. The intricacy and high detail, along with hints of existing organic shapes lend to the intimacy and believability of each new world. "

Hijinks Shows Featuring Yellena James: