Figurative painter Jillian Shea creates images of herself and those closest to her in luscious oils, pulling from the tradition of romantic realism.

Shea’s practice is a diary through which she works out issues of gender and sexuality, memories, and relationships. Her recent work deals mostly with self portraits and portraits of their friends. She records intimate private moments from her life. The nudes are made from images taken by the artist of the artist in a ceremony of self seduction. The public display of her own body is an act of exhibitionism and a symbolic display of her own sapphic desires. The viewer is being invited by the artist to look but knows they aren’t part of the scene. The artist has a subscription site to view the photographs she pulls from for these explicit paintings available to those who ask.

Shea’s practice is kept close, using only images of herself and the people closest to her. She pulls from her camera roll on her phone to find her next subject. Some photos are snapped in the moment others are set up with a little more production. The use of these ephemeral images translated into permanence through paint is essential to the artist’s practice. This archiving of life’s moments is the underlying motivation behind everything the artist makes.