Jillian Shea
Open Studios Hours May 20/21 from 11am - 5pm
Figurative painter Jillian Shea (she/they) creates images of herself and those closest to her in luscious oils, pulling from the tradition of romantic realism.
Her practice is a diary through which she works out issues of gender and sexuality, memories, and relationships. Their recent work deals mostly with self portraits in the nude or semi-nude, and portraits of their friends. Viewers catch glimpses through the window of her canvas at her life. The intimacy of private moments with friends or the confrontation of the artist alone, seducing herself through the camera. The public display of her own body is an act of exhibitionism and a symbolic display of the artist’s sapphic desires. The viewer is invited by the artist to look.
Their practice is kept close, using only images of themselves and the people closest to them. Shea pulls from the photo library on their phone to find their next subject. The translation of these ephemeral images into permanence through the material is essential to the artist’s practice. This archiving of life’s moments is the underlying motivation behind everything Shea makes.