Oreka James

X in Residence is pleased to welcome Oreka James as our first artist in residence.

Oreka James (b. 1991, Toronto, Ontario, Canada) composes worlds that animate the crossing of realms, affirming what would be considered intangible, while visiting moments of love, spirituality and suggesting the metaphysical and the ephemeral. They consider the excavation of histories and futures of land and nomads as a means of wayfinding, sometimes transposing objects and symbols that hold esoteric knowledge and serve as placeholders to the unknown. Informed by oralities and folklore, she intimately recalls and reveals peoples, places, and stories deeply rooted in their personal life and culture. The artist is committed and determined to finding connections between fabricated and literal scapes, believing animism to be the link to uncovering and understanding elusive societies.

James received their BFA in Drawing and Painting at the Ontario College of Art and Design University while studying Furniture Design. She has completed a group residency at the Art Gallery of Ontario and has shown at spaces such as Projet Pangee, Montreal; Efrain Lopez Lopez Project Space, Chicago; Patel Brown Gallery, Toronto; Mercer Union, Toronto; Gallery 44, Toronto; and Margin of Eras Gallery, Toronto; James currently lives and works in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.