Jill Pearson (b. 1978) is an award winning abstract artist based in the Philadelphia area.  After receiving her BFA from The University of the Arts in 2001, she began her career as an illustrator and designer.  Her early work as a digital collage illustrator continues to influence her fine art practice today, translated into the tactile language of layered abstract art created with acrylics, collage, and drawing media.

Jill has exhibited at galleries and art fairs throughout the Philadelphia region, and her work is held in private collections across the country.  She has received numerous distinctions including first place in mixed media at the 2024 Lititz Outdoor Fine Art Show and multiple awards from the nationally juried Faso BoldBrush contest.  Her work has been featured in Philadelphia Stories, Main Line Today.com, Artsy Shark.com, Art & Color 360, and more.  Jill maintains a home studio in Chester County, Pennsylvania and continues to explore the endless possibilities of abstraction.

Statement

My practice is rooted in a fascination with color, composition, and layering.  Early in my career, illustration introduced me to visual communication through the creation of digital collages in Photoshop.  Over time, the process itself became more compelling than following the sketch, leading me towards abstraction and a more intuitive way of working.

I create my mixed-media abstract works with acrylics, collage, and drawing media.  Layer by layer I build, obscure, reveal, and disrupt the surface, allowing each decision to influence what follows.  I respond to the painting as it develops , allowing uncertainty and chance to play an essential role, much like the way we live our lives.

The accumulated layers create a visual history within each work, a dialogue between what is seen and what remains hidden.  Through color and composition I seek to evoke a memory, emotion, or sense of place while leaving room for the viewer’s own associations to enter the work.  Ultimately, my paintings are invitations to pause and look beneath the surface by embracing how our past experiences shape us.