Teresa James

Teresa James has been a printmaker in Chicago for almost 30 years. In 1991, while studying at the School of The Art Institute of Chicago, she was approached by artist Tony Fitzpatrick to assist with his studio, Big Cat Press, and soon became the workshop's master printer. In 2002, she left Big Cat to establish her own print atelier, White Wings Press, where she continues to make prints and her one-of-a-kind drawing collages. Printmaking and making art in general has been a part of Teresa's life since she was a small child. "I grew up in a family of artists and my father and mother were very supportive of this calling I had." says Teresa. "The moment I new I wanted to make prints was after seeing an exhibit of Whistler's etchings at the Art Gallery of Ontario. I was intrigued by the process and once I got my hands in the ink and was mesmerized by all the beautiful papers, there was no turning back." While still referencing the materials and techniques of her printmaking background, Teresa's current works are the result of a variety of techniques. She begins by adapting and repurposing historic impressions of maps, animals, and nature, layering and collaging them onto a variety of vintage book covers. The resulting geometric compositions provide a weathered, narritive field, a dimensional receptive site for her imagined, hand drawn figurative imagery, including her personal recurring iconography of winged hands. These hands seem to embody an expressive and creative power. The wings, delicate and mystical, whisper the possibility of a fluid mobility between worlds. The act of juxtaposing these images and blurring distinctions between techniques results in a series of shifting realities at once scientific, observational, and intimatly spiritual. Teresa has collaborated with such artists as Ed Paschke, Fred Stonehouse, Tony Fitzpatrick, Martin Mull, Audrey Niffenegger, and many others. She has exhibited at the Block Gallery at Northwestern University, and is in their permanent collection. Teresa's work is featured in the book Cyanotype: The Blueprint in Contemporary Practice by Christina Anderson (Routledg Publishing) and has been a visiting artist at The Art Institute of Chicago, UW Madison, Kalamazoo Institute of Art, NIU, University Notre Dame and the Spencer Museum of Art, KS.

A Generous Heart, 46x35, drawing & painting on vintage book covers The End of My Searching, 29x55, Drawing & painting on vintage book covers Learn to Love, 38x43, Drawing & painting on vintage book covers COMING SOON - Find What Never Fades, 41X35, Drawing & painting on vintage book covers COMING SOON - Only Today are The Pastures Green, 37X37, Drawing & painting on vintage book covers Mirror of Justice, 9 x 15, drawing & painting on vintage book covers Places I cannot go, 12 x 27, drawing & painting on vintage book covers Lead us in the right direction, 12 x 27, drawing & painting on vintage book covers Nothing but good shall live here, 13 x 28, drawing & painting on vintage book covers