Downtown LA Native and female visual artist, James Wilde, some of whose work can be found on any given day beyond the glass of a small gallery within Spring Arcade Building. Known for drawing inspiration for her vibrant artwork from her love of animals and abstract lucid dreams, if you’ve ever seen any of her brightly colored murals or pet-inspired street art around LA, you already know she has a style distinctly her own.
For many Angelenos and animal lovers alike, seeing James Wilde’s lively street art on their commutes across various parts of town is more than enough to bring a little extra sunshine to their day.
Hint: Think neon cartoon cats spreading positivity across the city.
What started out for Wilde as an extracurricular activity in secondary school has become a full-time profession as she embarks on a promising journey as one of the city’s preeminent street artists.
As creative as she is strikingly beautiful; Wilde is always coming up with new ways to express her seemingly endless supply of creativity. Her life and work embody all things fun and spontaneous. And, she is always busy doing something uniquely original.
James Wilde was born and raised in East Los Angeles. She has been doing art basically since she could talk. Her artwork expresses her ongoing love affair with animals and her pastel-colored abstract lucid dreams.
Wilde’s career as an artist really began to take off when she started to use the infamous dating app “Tinder” to promote her artwork.
Wilde says, “I started off doing painting, and that was going alright for a while. But then I was trying to promote my art, and I went on Tinder. I was just trying to use that to promote my art. I swiped on someone, and they were like, ‘Hey, I’d like for you to paint a mural in my living room. And I was like, this sounds like a trick, but sure, I’ll come over and paint the mural. And then, I when I got there; the guy was like here are the keys, I’ll be back in eight hours.”
While her real name is obviously not James Wilde, she says she had to change it to James Wilde because it was before the female empowerment movement and everyone was only taking male artwork at the time.
“I would submit to things, and my guy artist friends would submit to things and get a response, and I wouldn’t get a response, or I would get a response, and it would be someone trying to date me and waste my time. So I changed my name to James Wilde.”
As years go by, James Wilde pursues various creative muses from street art, murals, painting cats and dogs on power boxes, custom clothing, and even her own rugs and would like to give special thanks to the Historic Core of Downtown Los Angeles for its support and for sharing in her vision.
James Wilde’s custom clothing and artwork @Jameswildexo and by subscribing to her mailing list via her website www.itsjameswildexo.com
