
Visual artist I.L.I. transforms everyday scenes and objects into tranquil, yet surreal, reconceptions of the everyday world. Gestural yet minimalist, these colorful imaginings emanate an infectious, vibrant energy that lies dormant within the facets of ordinary life.
Having exhibited internationally, from the United Kingdom to Russia, I.L.I. now presents a body of her work in a digital exhibition titled “Unframed Traces”. The solo show focuses on the artist’s mixed media work depicting household objects that unearth new dimensions of truth about the day-to-day, leaving viewers asking, How real is realism?
The exhibition highlights how I.L.I. can transform the classic techniques from across the history of art into a novel and whimsical display that perpetuates the upending of what is real. Deeply inspired by the masters of 17th-century Dutch painting, their work translates her subjects into a new modern language of symbolism reflecting the fleeting nature of life itself. Yet they subvert a traditionally bleak aura for one of playfulness and imagination. They seemingly allude to modernists like Cézanne and Mattise, abstracting forms into new, captivating organic shapes.
The result, “Unframed Traces” excavates objects’ fundamental truths and states of being. Within the works, we embody the perspective of fish living in the confines of their aquarium or contorting with potted plants as they grow. What was once mundane undergoes a metamorphosis, reduced to lines and color that ignite a newfound comprehension of life’s subtleties and neglected moments.




