James MacLaren is a self-taught contemporary figurative painter working in large-scale oil on canvas, blending hyperrealism with surrealism to explore isolation, cosmic exploration, and human fragility in an increasingly AI-augmented world. His command of light, form, and depth creates immersive, narrative-driven works that confront the viewer with questions of scale, solitude, and belonging.

James's path began with graphite sketches during his Chemistry Master's degree at Warwick, before evolving into the hyperrealist precision that defines his practice today. He now pioneers an analog-digital synthesis, pairing traditional oil painting with AI-generated reference imagery, a method that anchors his six-painting Astronaut Collection, a body of work confronting isolation, exploration, and fragility amid the vastness of cosmic voids.