This body of work balances structure and freedom, blending patterns that recall textiles or ancient scripts with expressive gestures to create drawings that feel timeless, yet immediate. 

i think of it as asemic writing, something that insists on being present, without ever giving you a fixed meaning. So, the drawings hold this tension: on one hand, repition, grids, order; on the other, improvisation, rupture, and lived experience. 

For me color is emotional.  Reds and purples carry intensity and conflict, while  the blues and yellows open into something more elemental, more cosmic.  I want the works to feel like they could be maps, manuscripts, or rituals, but also like they're unfolding in real time as you stand before them.

Asemic Borders
John T Adams Asemic Borders Sumi ink, acrylic paint and oil pastels.
Violet Eight
2025
Sumi ink, acrylic paint and oil pastels.
30"x50"
John T Adams Asemic Borders Sumi ink, acrylic paint and oil pastels
Organelle
2025
Sumi ink, acrylic paint and oil pastels
30x50"
John T Adams Asemic Borders Ink, acrylic paint and oil pastels.
The Vale of the Red Horse
2025
Ink, acrylic paint and oil pastels.
30"x50"
John T Adams Asemic Borders Sumi ink, acrylic paint and oil pastels.
Purple Prose
2025
Sumi ink, acrylic paint and oil pastels.
30"x50"
John T Adams Asemic Borders Ink, acrylic paint and oil pastels
Garden of Isfahan
2025
Ink, acrylic paint and oil pastels
30"x50"
John T Adams Asemic Borders Sumi ink, acrylic paint and oil pastels.
Glacial Retreat
2025
Sumi ink, acrylic paint and oil pastels.
30"x50"
John T Adams Asemic Borders Ink, acrylic paint and oil pastels
Currently
2025
Ink, acrylic paint and oil pastels
30"x50"

I revisited this piece and the circles are now violet.
John T Adams Asemic Borders ink, acrylic paint and oil pastels
Balanced Flow
2025
ink, acrylic paint and oil pastels
30"x50"
John T Adams Asemic Borders Sumi ink, acrylic paint and oil pastels.
A Periodic Wave
2025
Sumi ink, acrylic paint and oil pastels.
30"x50"