James Austin Murray

Curious Sound

2021

Painter James Austin Murray works within self imposed rules that allow him to create engaging paintings in pure Ivory black oil on canvas. The unadulterated pigment allows for the texture and movement of the paint to come through. Murray’s work evokes Zen sand gardens in the quiet raking of the paint. His work is meditative, and gestural, yet precise in his technique- the flat surface expands and contracts, ripples and pulses leaving the viewer with a clear sense of movement. Murray, who worked for years as a firefighter, explains that his painting practice is a way to meditate on his connection to the earth, which is enhanced by his use of handmade brushes and pigments he makes himself out of soil sourced from sites with personal or cultural importance. Murray has exhibited in New York, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Singapore, Monaco, Chicago, and Miami. His works are in the collections of the Kimpton Hotel Palomar Philadelphia, Tom Ford, and Thomas Pheasant in Washington D.C.