James Barsness is drawn to the world of fantastic imagery. His paintings explore the possibilities of multiple simultaneous narratives that can be quite complex. His intricate compositions are influenced by Breughel, Bosch, R.J. Crumb, Tibetan sacred painting and the artistic traditions of Thailand, India and Ireland.

Barsness seeks to illuminate the possibilities of every dimension of human behavior he can imagine. It is his desire that his work to be palatable to a lay viewer as well as to those who have a more sophisticated idea of possibilities in art making. Barsness possesses a mastery of draftsmanship that enables him to achieve a marvelous co-existence of imagery within the frame of his highly controlled paintings.