James F. Lorigan’s art is carefully orchestrated with luminous color and rich brushstrokes. These seductive strokes of his paintings and the elegant sensuous lines of his prints are born out of his passionate reverence for the craft of art making.

As one engages Lorigan’s art, beyond the seduction, it quickly becomes obvious that the work is about fable, myth and morality. What is less obvious, but perhaps more significant, is that these paintings and prints are a documentation of his personal journey through life. They reference specific trials, tribulations and memorable, albeit sometimes mundane, incidences in the artist’s life, and his response to the world at large as he sees it unfold through life experience, conversations, television, radio and newspapers. Lorigan takes it all in and combines, filters and organizes it into narratives that seem to make some sense out of it all while ultimately leaving the larger questions open ended.

Lorigan graduated from Cal State University Fullerton in 1994 with his MFA in painting and printmaking. He also completed his MA in printmaking in 1993. Since graduation Lorigan has participated in more than 80 exhibitions. Currently, he is a master printmaker and owns Watermark Printmaking Workshop in Santa Ana, CA. He produces fine art etchings and lithographs in limited editions with artist of merit. He is also the chair of the Art Department at College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita, California, where he teaches drawing, painting and printmaking.

A 26-page catalogue is available at the exhibition.