janiva ellis

Thrill Issues (2017) detail

I discovered janiva ellis' paintings from scrolling past an ad on instagram. This was the only time I was happy to see an ad because I realised how much I loved her paintings and I finally felt a sliver of inspiration in months! As I read through some interviews she had and looked at more of her work, I felt that I could connect with some aspects in her practice. First of all I love how she painted faces in non-skin colours, all sorts of crazy colours, and how loud the works are, how she incorporates cartoon figures as well, how she projects things on to trace if some element requires more accuracy, how she used a still from the anime film I really like (Perfect Blue) and reworked on top of it, isnt afraid to rework on top of old college works too, how she titles her work, how identity ties into everything, her layered compositions... etc etc. Looking at her paintings is making me want to go more playful with my compositions, and not be afraid to use bold colours, but I don't think I can do this in less than a week before assessment...