About Me

As both an artist and filmmaker, I am a visual storyteller, a lover of narrative, and a delighted fan of the myriad ways in which a story can be told. I play with allegory, metaphor, and transformation to manifest a larger truth (or at least a parallel possibility) of who we are and who we aspire to be. Explorations of community and interconnection are recurring themes my visual art and film work, made manifest at various stages of the art making process, from concept and fabrication/production to the final presentation of the piece itself. Materials and genre are dependent on the particular story I am wanting to tell and the space I want to tell it in. The work can manifest as installation, film, art video, painting, or sculpture.

I’ve created site-specific, often community-based, pieces of art in public spaces and galleries for three decades. My early works were ephemeral pieces in locales beyond the gallery walls, where people would “happen upon” the piece, thus facilitating an experi¬ence unmitigated by the “frame” of Art. In these pieces, I was exploring interconnections between individuals, communities, and the natural and man-made environments. I later expanded my investigations to several permanent site-specific art pieces, in locales as diverse as a public high school, public library, city streets, restaurant windows, and an open field. My approach to public art is necessarily site-specific. I delve into the particular cultural, historical, and physical characteristics of each setting, which suggest to me appropriate themes, materials and processes, and considers the unique character of a neighborhood or place, inviting the engagement of community members and visitors, thus continuing the thread of inquiry started in my more ephemeral early pieces.

During the pandemic shutdown, in keeping with my longstanding commitment to community and collaboration, I worked with the 150 member Angel City Chorale to create 2 full length virtual concerts incorporating the choir members, art, and music. (I went on to create the video art for their 2022 live concert, Roots.) I also began creating a series of kaleidoscopic video works, which I am continuing to explore. I begin with images on a theme, placing them one after the other on a timeline and blending them together so that one image gradually morphs into the next. I then manipulate the resulting sequence, turning it into a slowly changing kaleidoscopic video. I find these videos to be meditative and calming.

To see my film and television work, visit www.jillmakesfilms.com