Edinburgh’s &Gallery is mounting a new exhibition of a series of paintings developed over the past two years by James Lumsden, who is based in Edinburgh and An Rubha (Point) on the Isle of Lewis, where most of the work originated.

James’ primary interest is in the creation of a sense of light, colour, depth and feeling engendered by building multiple thin layers of translucent colour. Each layer is dragged, pulled or manipulated repeatedly with various implements, using interference and opalescent pigments to add a further dimension to the works, resulting in their surfaces appearing to change when viewed from different angles and varying light conditions. Although essentially abstract, the works allude to landscape and a sense of place, the artist describing them as ‘open paintings’ in the process of their creation, interpretation and in spirit.

The exhibition also includes coloured pencil drawings, which the artist began to develop in 2025, funded by a Creative Scotland Open Fund Award which supported a six-month period concentrating on experimentation and development in drawing. These echo the painting process in having been built in multiple layers of mark-making, rubbing, blending and erasing between layers, repeating until the drawing is complete.

James’ work is also featured in the current 200th anniversary RSA Annual Exhibition.