Jillian Evelyn

Connecting the Dots at Hashimoto Contemporary

“I am constantly in limbo,” Jillian Evelyn tells me on a summer day from her studio in Los Angeles, a relatable frame of mind for the times we live in. I have always considered Evelyn’s work to possess directness, as well as providing room to breathe. Her often partially clothed women champion a sort of prideful ownership of self but also a universality that radiates a sense of independence with which we all can identify. Her new exhibition, Connecting the Dots, on view at Hashimoto Contemporary LA this fall, links a connection to her past work, but the changes are palpable. In lieu of social media censorship and a little nod to John Baldessari, Evelyn has created a body of work that poses questions about what we can and cannot see.

Evan Pricco: Let’s start with the title, Connecting the Dots. Do you normally have a title this early when you are prepping for a show?

Jillian Evelyn: I usually wait towards the end of working on a body of work to determine the title. The work usually evolves and changes through the process and then I find the thread that’s connecting them all.

What does that title mean? I know you’ve cited censorship before, this idea that social media sort of makes you put “dots” over nipples and nudity, but there is also a sense that you are connecting the dots of your career thus far. Is there a double-entendre here?