Passage V

Chords of Color

Some viewers see the paintings of abstract artist James Little as impersonal, discordant rainbows. Others see them as minimalistic distillations of emotion, in other words, they are metaphors for Little’s feelings about social issues and historical events. He paints large-scale patterns of shapes一mostly triangles and narrow rectangles in vibrant contrasting hues. His paintings explore the ambiguity of space, the energy of movement, and the coming together of unlikely elements. But his subject he says is color. (64)

In 2011, working out of his studio in Brooklyn, New York, Little is painting on canvas using his own blends of beeswax and oil paint. He applies at least fifteen layers of these paints that he blended himself to achieve a thick, smooth, color-soaked, luminescent surface. Most of his paintings are voluminous, about six feet by eight feet. To create sharp visual breaks and clean edges of color in these expansive works, he paints slashing diagonal lines and rays.

In his 2005 painting Bittersweet Victory, by all means, the canvas is bisected by a vertical, beige line. On the left half, three orange triangles in a row, each one which stretched from the bottom to the top of the canvas's left half, angle slightly to the right on a purple background. On the right half, three vertical bands of dark green, one edge of each band slanting to create a point that touches the top of the canvas, cuts through a lime-green background. Little explains that the internal spaces in his paintings (created by lines and blocks of color) need to play off of each other in a way that lends rhythm and unity to the whole work. The effect is much like something that would remind you of a perfect jazz collaboration. (74)

One of Little’s favorite assessments of his work came from a woman who told him that his paintings are optimistic. Little believes the bold, positive energy infusing his work comes from what he observes around him. His paintings reflect what he considers the essence of our experiences as human beings. The malleable nature of space, the surprising shifts, but, in the end, a balance.