In the lockdown of 2020 Jess de Zilva began creating her new body of work titled Things we do.
Borne out of the pandemic experience it describes facets of emotional life as we navigate through the chaos of it.
click here to for more info on things we do, a tour of the show and catalogue
One of those days / oil on linen / 140cm x 85cm / 2020 / SOLD
They come and go / oil on linen / 85cm x 65 cm / part of a triptych, scroll down for details SOLD
Beyond the gate / oil on linen / 120cm x 85cm / part of a triptych, scroll down for details / SOLD
Offerings for the penguin king / oil on linen / 85cm x 65cm / part of a triptych, scroll down for details / SOLD
Not far, I promise (series 'silent painting')/ oil on linen / 85cm x 65 cm / SOLD
planting for 2021 / oil on canvas / 85cm x 85cm / 2020 / £ 4500
Where the butterflies go (series 'silent painting') / oil on linen / 85cm x 65 cm / SOLD
rearrangement required / oil on linen / 85cm x85cm / 2021 / £ 4500
A departure / oil on linen / 75cm x 85cm/ 2021 / £ 3800
perimeter / oil on linen / 75cm x 85cm / 2021 / £ 3800
drunk on memories (series 'silent painting') / oil on linen / 85cm x 65 cm / SOLD
a million different reasons (series 'silent painting') / oil on linen / 85cm x 65 cm / SOLD
Things we do is a triptych about how we navigate through the chaos we are currently in (2020/2021). The absurd has entered reality. It has infiltrated our lives. Things don’t make sense. We struggle as we are left figuring out how to live. Hope is stacked up against fear and threats, truth has become a plural, love and death are closer than ever. We are lonely yet needing of more space, some find support in peculiar actions and places. In chaos we are lost and so we search. We try, step lightly, observe, examine, wonder, hide, threaten, protect, defend and hurt. The things we do externally and internally have never been so ambivalent. Yet the triptych offers openings; into obscure space where the butterflies go, along the path of the penguins, via the water behind closed curtains, through doorways and halls deeper into the painting, down a hole she tip toes across, and maybe there is still an exit upstairs? The last path is to step out to join the viewer and enter another world altogether.
Medium: oil on linen Size: 317cm x 85cm (these are the external measurements of the triptych with 2.5cm between the pieces). The centre piece measures 120cm x 85cm. Side panels both measure 85cm x 65cm (see individual panels below)
created 2020-2021 / SOLD
One of those days (this painting was shortlisted for the Sequested Prize)
While in Rome on a residency I discovered Valentin de Boulogne’s paintings. Greatly inspired by his version of the ‘the last supper’ I had been plotting a painting for over a year. It was going to be a painting, not of the last supper, but of the early morning after the party. Then the pandemic and the first lockdown hit. I realized I would not be able to execute the idea as I had planned and so ‘the morning after’ morphed into this painting I named ‘One of those days’. Not being able to work with models, all the protagonists in this painting are one and the same person. It still deals with how we are with our fellow people, the breakdown of social rules, behaviour otherwise not laid bare and thresholds being lowered, except in this painting it has turned inwards. How do we deal with ourselves when being faced and maybe even stuck with ourselves? The many facets of our personality come out to play; the good, the bad and the ugly. One of those days is one of the many indistinguishable days stuck in four walls with oneself.
140cm x 85cm / oil on linen / 2020 / SOLD
any questions?
If you would like further information on any of the works, have questions or are interested in purchasing a piece please drop me an email