Shroud 2018

James Jean made "Shroud" with what looks like acrylic or maybe gouache, building up layers of translucent colours. The figures seem to emerge from the ground, like apparitions, veiled by a semi-transparent white haze. Jean's colours are applied in thin, even layers, creating a smooth, almost seamless surface. The floating geometric shapes are painted with crisp lines, contrasting with the softer, dreamier forms of the figures. I love how the pinks and blues are balanced, creating this otherworldly atmosphere. It reminds me a bit of early Alex Katz, with a touch of Yoshitomo Nara's melancholic cuteness. Look at the way Jean repeats figures, blurring the boundaries between the real and the imaginary. Each figure is slightly different, slightly out of sync with the others, suggesting the fluidity of memory and the way our identities shift and change over time. It feels like a meditation on impermanence. Like all art, "Shroud" isn't about answers. It's about possibilities, about the endless dance of seeing and feeling, thinking and dreaming.