Bojana Ilic- BOJITT is Serbian-born and raised, US based artist. Her career started 20 years ago in Serbia, where she worked avidly as a fashion designer. Every collection included hand-painted elements and asymmetry. She transitioned to painting when she moved to Chicago in 2007. She always planned to leave home—recognized the limits Serbia’s economic state implied at the hands of NATO bombs and all the rest. Moving to America was a reset.
Tales of overcoming have always been her theme. Studio work offers the artist catharsis, but painting for other people provides an emotional service. Commissioned work starts with a conversation between the artist and an individual or wider community. Once a story pours into her soul, it’s then alchemized into material possibilities like color palettes and arrangements of texture.
Each artwork holds its own bespoke symbolic language suited to its story. Shapes become characters, drops and splashes direct the flow of energy and action. Her own handwriting punctuates every tale with an exclamation point–loops of automatic writing like actual words the viewer inadvertently projects their own narrative onto. Survivorship is just one badge a person wears. I include every part of a story from rising action to denouement to honor variety within the human experience. They manifest as layers. Her work speaks from her heart to others who find a deep connection with Bojana’s way of communicating BOLDLY through her work while simply celebrating life and inspiring conversation.