James Harvey

San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

James Harvey uses ink on multiple layers of transparent fibers to create realistic landscapes and portraits, full of beautiful movement.

James Harvey is an American visual artist living and working in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico . He received a BA in painting at the Rhode Island School of Design in 1987.

After suffering a concussion about 15 years ago, he began seeing in multiple images in the hospital. While laying in bed, he was drawing and sketching his doctor and nurses, one images on top of another, on the same page.

When he finally recovered, he started to experiment with layers of glass, then plexiglas, and finally arriving with his transparent fabrics to try to replicate what he had experienced in the hospital.

Working in multiple layers of transparent fibers with industrial inks, he recreates illusions of moments of time suspended, compositions that hover between figurative and abstraction; ghost-like images that appear to be drawn in the air. Limbs and faces come into sharp focus while others disappear into the background. A sense of mystery creeps in.

His work can be seen in numerous collections around the world.

"My work is my reason for living, without it I wouldn't exist."