Jill Drllevich

Bio

An accomplished multimedia artist and arts educator, Drllevich has been based in the Pacific Northwest for more than 35 years. Largely self-taught, she weaves her playful style and eclectic, abstract realism into everything she touches; from nuclear sculpture, mural painting to glass, welded metal sculpture, ceramics, prop design, landscape design, and jewelry.

Drllevich approaches each new artistic challenge with a unique and innovative perspective, organically cultivating colorful, fun, and often functional pieces. Influences include her dedication to the environment, wildlife, and her around-the-world travels in a motorcycle sidecar completed in her mid-70s.

Artist Statement

"I am a collector of the unusual. Every place I travel, I leave my belongings behind and fill my bags up again with rusty metal, trashed treasures, and the fruits of my beach combing."

For the entirety of my 75 years of life, I have been plagued with an inquiring mind. Every passion, desire, and interest I pursue leads me down a multitude of diverse paths. Thankfully, I have come to learn that this curse is also a gift and I've come to embrace my Renaissance soul. When I am creating, my mind wanders and I ask myself, "what would happen if…"

My versatile ideas come to life in glass, metal, painting, ceramics, and large-scale nuclear sculpture. In 2017, I founded Blades of Change, an equitable nuclear arts initiative collaborating with artists to bring monumental found object nuclear sculptures to life.

I like to imagine what it would be like if humanity and nature could dissolve the walls that separate them. What if life was a dance instead of a struggle? What if we could embrace empathy and walk in the minds of others? I seek answers to those questions through my art-making practice.

I have had the privilege to travel around the globe in a motorcycle sidecar over the last two years. Traveling great distances in the open air encourages me to use all my senses, to slow down, capture the moment, and observe things I pass by carefully and completely. As I travel, I imagine I'm weaving an artistic fabric, one that includes a bit of what I've picked up from others, and some pieces of me that I've left behind.