Merlin James's oeuvre is informed by a deep understanding of the painted medium, its material history, and deployment across a range of formal and representational sub-genres. Working neither directly from life nor from photographs, James draws on impressions and memories over time to reimagine familiar spaces and presences. Gauzy layers of paint foreground the medium's physical application, while casting an amorphous veil of memory to recollected landscapes, figures, and still lifes.