Jim Abuan
Painter: Acrylics and mixed media. Figurative/pop sensibilities and abstract art.
Jim Abuan is a contemporary artist whose work examines identity, representation, and abstraction through a process-driven engagement with the human figure and printed imagery. Born in the Philippines and raised in California’s Central Valley, his early experiences as an immigrant and farmworker continue to inform a practice grounded in observation, restraint, and deliberate material choice.
Abuan’s artistic formation began in the Central Valley, where he earned his BFA from California State University, Stanislaus, before completing his MFA at the Otis Art Institute of Los Angeles County in the mid-1970s. After several years exhibiting in Los Angeles and working in commercial art, he returned to the Central Valley, where he taught graphic arts and photography for nearly two decades before returning full-time to his studio practice.
Since resuming painting in 2011, Abuan has worked primarily with figuration, using the human form in flattened, nontraditional spatial environments. Drawing source material from print publications, he often incorporated image transfer techniques to embed found imagery directly into his paintings. His approach reflects a conscious resistance to conventional aesthetic appeal. As he has stated, “I’m trying to eliminate what makes the painting appealing. For me, it’s more about what makes it different.”
His materials are equally intentional. Abuan frequently employed acrylic latex house paint, selecting colors from industrial paint charts rather than traditional artist pigments. Since late 2023, his work has shifted toward fully abstract compositions created through image transfers using transparent acrylic medium, eliminating paint pigment and figuration altogether.
Abuan has exhibited widely in California, including solo exhibitions at Blueline Arts in Roseville and School Street Gallery in Lodi, as well as earlier exhibitions at Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles. His evolving practice reflects a sustained inquiry into process, material, and the tension between recognition and erasure.
“I’m trying to eliminate what makes the painting appealing. For me, it’s more about what makes it different.”
Paramour One, 2023
Image Transfer (no paint)
44” × 40” × 1.5”
$10,000
Meditation B2, 2023
Acrylic on Canvas
44” × 38” × 1.5”
$5,000
Crash, 2021
Latex Paint on Canvas
26” × 33” × 1.5”
$500
Six Good Numbers, 2018
Acrylic on Canvas
43” × 33” × 1.5”
$1,750
Painting of a Nude, 2017
Latex Paint on Canvas
44” × 32” × 1.5”
$2,500
Knee Jerk Banana, 2017
Acrylic on Canvas
54” × 30” × 1.5”
$2,000
Tatt and PG, 2017
Latex and Image Transfer on Canvas
33” ×26” × 1.5”
$1,500
Hand Held, 2016
Latex Paint on Canvas
24.5”× 18.5” × 1.5”
$2,000
Once Famous, 2016
Latex Paint on Canvas
52” × 35” × 1.5”
$1,100
Artworks Available for Purchase
Metta D, 2023
Image Transfer (no paint) on Canvas
24”× 20” × .75”
$900
Pundit, 2017-22
Mixed Media: Some Image Transfer, Latex Paint on Canvas
32.5” × 26” × 1.5”
$700
Red Ribbon - Blue Purse, 2019
Latex Paint on Canvas
40” × 32” × 1.5”
$1,800
Black Shoe, 2018
Latex Paint on Canvas
33” × 29” × 1.5”
$1,200
When Will You, 2017
Latex Paint, Image Transfer on Canvas
54” × 33” × 1.5”
$1,900
There Own They’re On Out Their, 2017
Latex and Spray Paints on Canvas
45.5” × 31” × 1.5”
$1,700
Man Woman Woman Man, 2017
Latex and Spray Paint on Canvas
33” × 27” × 1.5”
$2,700
Glass Table, 2016
Collage, Image Transfer, Latex Paint on Canvas
32” × 41” × 1.5”
$800
Three Hands, 2016
Acrylic Latex on Canvas
38” × 32” × 1.5”
$800
Metta B, 2023
Image Transfer (no paint)
24” × 18” × .75”
$900
Metta E, 2023
Image Transfer (no paint) on Canvas
24” × 20” × .75”
$900
Alone On A Hill, 2021
Latex Paint on Canvas
32” × 25” × 1.5”
$400
LOLXOX, 2019
Acrylic Latex Paint and Image Transfer
44” × 38” × 1.5”
$3,000
Weather Bird, 2017
Latex Paint on Canvas
33” × 27” × 1.5”
$1,000
Their Lies the Prob, 2017
Latex Paint on Canvas
41” × 32” × 1.5”
$1,100
OOMPHA, 2016
Latex Paint on Canvas
41” × 30” × 1.5”
$1,200
Jigsaw Screen, 2017
Collage, Image Transfer, Latex Paint on Canvas
41” × 32” × 1.5”
$900
More of the Above, 2016
Latex Paint, Image Transfer on Canvas
40” × 32” × 1.5”
$1,400