Jillian Nalty

Drawn to the strange and uncanny, Jillian Nalty often begins with observed forms and textures that evoke a visceral, sensual response. Through unexpected material relationships and familiar forms made strange, she creates works that move between beauty and the grotesque, attraction and repulsion.

'Shadows' explores the tension between what is visible and what lies beneath the surface. Sharp, pointed forms emerge from a soft, upholstered exterior, suggesting something restless or unfamiliar moving beneath the skin. Their irregular positioning creates a sense of movement, as though the material is struggling to contain whatever exists within.

The rich burgundy fabric evokes flesh, warmth and intimacy, while the protruding forms introduce an unsettling sense of threat. The work plays with the ambiguity between softness and violence, attraction and repulsion, transforming a familiar, tactile material into something strangely bodily. 'Shadows' invites us to consider the things we conceal, the forces that shape us from within, and the uneasy possibility of their emergence.