Today we’d like to introduce you to Lilla Dent.
Lilla, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I have made art since I could hold a pencil and scribble, but it took me several years of exploring other fields (linguistics, performing arts) before I decided that visual art was what I truly wanted to devote my time to. I received my MFA in Drawing and Printmaking from the New York Academy of Art in 2017 and have been working and teaching since then again in Chicago, my hometown.
Has it been a smooth road?
I think for me one of the greatest challenges has been staying focused on any particular thing – my interests are so wide-ranging and it’s so easy for me to get “hooked” investigating a new discipline or skill set that it sometimes can be challenging to produce a coherent body of work or see something through to its completion. Also, I’m a total Luddite and terrible with social media, which can be stressful because it really seems like one of the keys to being a successful practicing artist today is to cultivate a dynamic online presence.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
I make art that often doesn’t quite fit into a comfortable category – it can straddle realism, surrealism, caricature, or cartoon all at once, and play with a variety of subtle emotional reactions in the viewer. For this reason, I think people either “get” my work or they don’t – but I make my work for those small number of people who WILL appreciate it and experience the same enjoyment that I experienced while creating the piece. I also pride myself on really listening to my clients’ wants and needs on the occasions that I am given commission work, be it photography, painting or printmaking.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
I think Chicago has a vibrant and healthy art scene and in some ways can be an easier point of departure than say, NYC, which can seem overwhelming to a beginner on the scene. So, in this respect, I would absolutely recommend Chicago for artists looking to get a “foot in the door”!
Contact Info:
- Website: http://bibelotecamollusca.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebibeloteca/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/thebibeloteca
Image Credit:
Hiroki Lory, Jimmy Chan
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