Left side:
"Northern Electric", 18"x36", Oil on Canvas, 2014;
Rich and Linda, 1979, 20"x20", Oil on Canvas, 2014;
"Eddie", 24"x18", Oil on Canvas, 2014;
"Western Electric", 30" x 48", Oil on Canvas, 2013
Right side:
"Clyde", Oil on Canvas, 24" x18", 2014;
Jessica Brilli, photography by Matt Bronstad 2014;
Justin's Cadillac, 10"x20", Oil on Canvas, 2014
In my latest series I'm painting vintage photographs, a study on nostalgia. I've acquired slides from a few different sources, for the most part the slides are from people who I don't know personally. There is a sense in which the less I directly participate in the memories, the more interesting the photos become; like borrowing memories and elaborating, editing, or directing.
We take thousands of pictures of our pets and children and host them in online services. The “Cloud”, where they can be shared and broadcast. I've enjoyed collecting old slides—the compositions seem more thoughtful, perhaps because the photographer only had so much film, and had to make the best of it. They had to pay for processing, and wait days or weeks until they could see the results. Now many 35mm slides are being thrown away, and I feel as though I'm rescuing them—participating in another phase of their lives.
My Static series engages viewers with objects from another era: Kodak cameras, transistor radios, and manual typewriters. Painting in a style that resembles American realism, I attempt to bring a contemporary eye to technologies from the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s. Before I begin a new work, I scour flea markets and yard sales, looking for everyday objects that excite my imagination.
Since childhood, Jessica has been drawing and painting. She earned her BFA in painting at the University of Rhode Island, where she studied with acclaimed artists Robert Dilworth, William Klenk, and Barbara Pagh. She recently won the Jack Richeson Award at the West Hartford Art League’s CT+6, juried and curated by Susan Cross.
Jessica’s paintings have been purchased by numerous private collectors, and several are displayed in the Radcliffe Institute’s Fay House, Cambridge, MA.
Jessica lives in Quincy, Massachusetts