James Kearns is a figurative artist who paints representationally.  It seems the world he paints is made up of not only the visual world (what you see around you) but also the imagined world (what you invent).  Figures, at times, are depicted in exaggerated poses.  They seem bizarre, even grotesque.  He employs heightened exaggeration and distortion from visual norms to get a more vivid, dramatic statement.  Incidentally, it has also been noted that there is humor, sympathy for, or identification with his figures as well as a piquant quality to the overall statements.

James Kearns’ ideas come from everywhere: observed scenes, reified ideas, irritations, pleasures, books, myths, and a lot is developed out of a habit of sketchbook drawing.  He seldom works directly from life and that is usually for a portrait.  He uses detailed studies to keep more complicated things under control.