CUSP (paintings) series

In CUSP, James McGrath explores the interplay between traditional painting techniques and emerging digital methods. His work combines tracing, drawing, cloth simulations, scans, and intricate layering processes like glazing and varnishing. The result is a series of dynamic, shifting compositions that blur the boundaries between surface and depth, still life and abstraction.

Inspired by the folds and textures of Baroque and 17th-century Dutch art, McGrath integrates their dramatic light, shadow, and intricate details into his modern visual language. These paintings evoke a sense of flux, where cloth merges with flowers, and surfaces dissolve into a mesmerizing play of texture, form, and light.

The works challenge the viewer’s gaze, offering multiple overlapping perspectives instead of a single fixed viewpoint. A flickering tension between clarity and obscurity emerges, enhanced by McGrath’s chiaroscuro palette and textured brushwork. His use of opaque cadmiums and transparent umber glazes creates vivid highlights and deep shadows that feel alive with movement.

Ultimately, CUSP invites viewers into a dialogue of seduction and mystery, capturing the ephemeral beauty of transformation and the elusive nature of presence.