Yellena James grew up and attended art school in Sarajevo, Bosnia. At the age of 18 she moved to the U.S. After gaining her BA in painting and graphic design at the University of Central Florida, she eventually made her way to Portland, OR. Preferring pens, inks, markers and acrylics, she combines complex abstract forms into dazzling images which take on lives of their own. Her colorful arrangements of organic shapes and tangled lines are at once floral and alien, organic and sci-fi. Each intimate world she creates seems to posses its own ethos and its own special ability to radiate emotion.
James has participated in shows around the U.S. and overseas, including: solo exhibitions at Stephanie Chefas Projects (Portland, OR), Giant Robot (San Francisco and Los Angeles, CA), Helikon Gallery (Denver, CO), Here Gallery (Bristol, UK), the Hijinks Gallery (San Francisco, CA) and more. She also has done illustration work for Anthropologie, Crabtree and Evelyn, Crate and Barrel, Relativity Media and many others (see client list below).
“My latest works further explore the intricate and delicate forms of an imaginary ecosystem, twisting and floating together in an alluring environment. I attempt to create an ethereal place which is hypnotically familiar and yet hauntingly exotic, adding tiny little details in a sort of compulsive meditation, until a perfect balance is created. The intricacy and high detail, along with hints of existing organic shapes lend to the intimacy and believability of each new world. ”
