James Fisher-Smith is a visual artist from California working in New York City.  In 2016 James was conducting independent research in a behavioral genomics lab at Reed College. Like the drawings spilling from the margins of his college-rule notes, art was sidelined in James' life. In the following year, James dropped out and spent 9 months traveling through the Middle East and Europe. By the end of his travels he'd accumulated 20 pounds of paper weight in drawings and journals. Upon his return, he moved to Brooklyn and joined Con Artist Collective. James' early work was abstract, but since moving to the city he's become focused on the figure. His figurative work is an attempt to express his subject's character and likeness to the degree that they exclaim "That's me!" James's medium of choice is ink on paper, but recently he's begun working with paint and collage.  His work is informed by artists such as Egon Schiele, Kieth Haring Anselm Kiefer, Zio Ziegler, David Park, and Joan Miró.