Oil on canvas.
36x36"
This oil painting was included in Woman Made Gallery's Group Exhibition "Girlfriends" in May 2024. It is part of a series called “My Lisas,” about coming-of age friendships, beauty, nostalgia, regret, guilt, love, loss and loneliness. The young women I depict exist in that beautiful, vulnerable and strange moment between youth and adulthood. I leverage the powerful memories evoked by this time in my life.
The figures are inspired by photos I take at music festivals. Within the paintings are short personal essays I have written about close friends who are no longer in my life. I write honestly about people who enhanced or complicated my life, challenged or completed me for a time. I express my emotions in an unashamed way, exploring how these special friendships truly felt and why they end.
I paint my figures in high-contrast monochromatic gray tones, and I paint the words in bright glossy colors, so they appear as an overlay, separate and above the image. With this gentle collision of words and image, I strive to create something that connects us more deeply to ourselves and to one another.
I hope these paintings evoke a sense of recognition in viewers, leading them to reflect on the impact of friends they’ve had who are no longer in their lives.
Pochis is a Chicago based visual artist who has run a busy art-installation studio for over two decades. Her murals and live art events are throughout Chicago. Her fine art is figurative, realistic and mostly monochromatic, with textual elements.
ARTIST’S STATEMENT
My paintings marry visual art with literary expression, creating an immersive experience that invites the viewer to engage with the artwork on multiple levels. I work primarily in oil paints on canvas. My paintings explore human relationships and emotions in an honest and unashamed way. I investigate the energy and ecstasy of relationships, along with the often inevitable regret, loss, and loneliness.
I paint my subjects in natural candid moments, but as if they are on a stage. I’m interested in mood and posture, the play of light on their skin and clothes, and the shape of their shadows.
Colorful words gently collide with the monochromatic people in my paintings, adding a layer of narrative, context, feelings and cultural references.
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