Cottontail 2021

James Jean made "Cottontail" with what looks like acrylic or oil, creating an almost airbrushed effect. He's layering the colors in such a way, with such precision, that the figures almost seem to float on top of each other. I'm really drawn to how Jean uses color here; it’s like he’s inventing new ways to render form. The colors are hyper-saturated, making the scene both inviting and slightly unreal. It’s like the digital world bleeding into a more traditional medium. Look at the figure in the center – the way the light catches the cheek and arm, it's all built with these subtle shifts in tone. The drips in the background give the piece a sense of urgency, contrasting with the dreamlike quality of the floating rabbits and figure. It reminds me a little of Takashi Murakami's superflat aesthetic mixed with the baroque intensity of someone like Peter Paul Rubens. It is work that embraces ambiguity, where fixed meanings dissolve into a myriad of possible interpretations.