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James Nyika

Drawing, Multidisciplinary, Multidisciplinary Art, Painting, Visual / Media

My goal is to capture a moment in time, a glimmer and an essence. If I can remind you of that moment through the work, then I have succeeded!

About the Artist

Artist James Nyika paints the glowing atmosphere of cities across the world. As a child growing up in Kenya, he found art materials at the student bookshop and also borrowed just about every art history volume from the British Council library in Nairobi. "I checked out the same books over and over just to stare at the art, to try and understand how it was created," says James. With family encouragement to study engineering, James moved to the U.S. and immersed himself in science studies at Boston University. Several years after embarking on a tech career, he set a goal to create at least one painting a week, never throwing away any works and learning as much as possible in his off hours. Today, James still balances his full-time career designing large software systems with his prolific output as a painter. "Painting is a great antidote to the regularity of a computing profession and I really value it for the uncertainty that it brings - something frowned upon when writing code."

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Artist's Statement

I have worked as an artist for many years however only recently renewed his energy in the depicting light in urban surroundings. I have a fondness for cityscapes with strong light, movement and color. I like a loose painting style and I would like you to feel the art is accessible to you as any other work you have seen and liked. If you like a particular piece and would like the original, feel free to reach out and make an offer. You may be surprised. The works you see are only a small part of the works that I have and I am slowly uploading and adding to them.

Featured Work

Photos

"Hong Kong is a fabulous city mixing together the old and the new," says artist James Nyika. "I wanted to superimpose both the old and new, far and near, clear and distinct - all against one another. I sought to expose the beauty of its skyscrapers against the older more fragile boats of the individual operators as a way to show how the new could not come to be without the support of the old. Which came first? - is the principal question!"
"Hong Kong and its harbors, a city juxtaposing the new and the old," says artist James Nyika. A bustling evening river scene brought to life in warm rust and orange tones. "I wanted to render the late evening feeling of watching various waterway traders zipping about selling and moving their wares about."
"I wanted to contemplate the awesome sight of a colonial ship, newly arrived on distant shores—and this was it!" says artist James Nyika. "I worked to depict the rich, deep colors and shadows that would permeate a newly discovered island. In this scene, a newly arrived ship has just moored off a beautiful sunkissed mountainous island."
"Farmlands continue to be a source of inspiration for me," says artist James Nyika. Here, he captures the warm feeling of the early morning sun on this University of Maryland research farm. "A nice location to observe many kinds of growing crops and farm equipment, this location is bordered by beautiful trees and gentle hills."
The Colorado River is a beautiful subject for any artist. In particular, its amazing rounded, bending nature is very attractive because it tends to reflect not only the sky but the surrounding valley walls with their orchres and reds.
"There is something alluring about the landing lights on runways and their juxtaposition against a landing plane," says artist James Nyika. "This picture captures that last moment before touchdown as a plane floats just before kissing the runway in Miami, Florida."

Booking

Booking Price: $1,001-$2,000

On Commission : contact through email : questions@nyika.studio

Working Surface

Subject to discussion with client