ARTIST STATEMENT
In my artwork I explore human relationships and emotions in an honest and unashamed way. My monochromatic, realistic figurative paintings investigate the energy and ecstasy of relationships, along with the often inevitable regret, loss, and loneliness. This series of oil paintings is called “My Lisas,” and they are about coming-of age friendships. They are also about beauty, nostalgia, regret and loneliness. The young women I depict exist in that beautiful, vulnerable and strange moment between youth and adulthood. I leverage the powerful memories evoked by this time in my life. The figures are inspired by photos I take at outdoor music festivals. Within the paintings are excerpts of short personal essays I have written about close friends who are no longer in my life. I write honestly about people who enhanced or complicated my life, challenged or completed me for a time. I explore how these special friendships truly felt and why they end. Perhaps some intense friendships are simply not meant to last. I paint my figures in high-contrast monochromatic gray tones, and I paint the words in bright glossy colors, so they appear as an overlay, separate and above the image. With this gentle collision of words and image, I strive to create something that connects us more deeply to ourselves and to one another. I hope these paintings evoke a sense of recognition in viewers, leading them to reflect on the impact of friends they’ve had who are no longer in their lives.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
PōCHIS is a Chicago based visual artist. For more than two decades, she has run the Pochis Bank Art Studio, a full-service art studio creating custom murals and other artwork for unique locations, products and special events. She is a recipient of the multi-year Chicago Neighborhood Arts Program Grant for her work as a fine art instructor to seniors in residential homes. Pochis is an active arts advocate: she dedicates her time and art skills to benefit her community and raise awareness for a range of social issues through public artworks including five “Cool Globes” raising awareness of solutions of Climate Change. She also serves on the Cool Globes board. Pochis was recently selected by the Chicago CTA and Lakeview-Roscoe Village Chamber of Commerce to create 3 works of public art as part of their Lowline Restoration Project. She was also selected by Selfless for Scott and Lincoln Park High School to design and spearhead a community mural project in the LPHS cafeteria. She is currently working on the North Lawndale Mural Arts Project to bring a “Winwood Walls” type of Art Center to the Ogden Avenue Corridor. You can see an example of PōCHIS’s mural work at the Embassy Suites Magnificent Mile. Pochis and her team created a block long outdoor mural entitled “Urbs in Horto” just east of Columbus Avenue between Grand Avenue and Illinois Street. You can see examples of PōCHIS’s current fine art at www.pochis.art.
© PōCHIS