[Black and white surrealist painting of repeating eyes]
AAT: Abstract Surrealist
AAT: eyes (motifs)
LCSH: Mural painting and decoration, American--Michigan--Detroit--21st Century.
LCSH: Surrealism--Michigan--Detroit.
LCSH: Eye in art.
Black and white surrealist painting depicting multiple eyes and repeating shapes.
Date created: c. 2020
Date photographed: 2023-2-8
paint on corrugated metal
Still Image
DMM-2022-00120
[Pencil portrait of a woman and her alternative mirror image]
Portrait drawing--United States--20th century. [LCSH]
Women in art [LCSH]
Surrealism [LCSH]
Pencil portrait of a woman with long, straight hair and her alternate, Medusa-inspired mirror image reflected along the horizontal axis. The woman's eyes are looking straight at the viewer, with her head turned somewhat to her right in a 3/4 angle pose. She has thin eyebrows, full lips, a straight, long nose, strong jawline, and somewhat pointed chin. The portrait only covers the woman's head and the very top of her neck. Shading is employed to give definition and contour to the woman's face. She has a slight dimple on her left cheek (on the right cheek, as seen by the viewer). Her hair is parted down the center and on each side of the part, the hair is a single mass with no delineation. The woman's Medusa-like reflected image shows her in the same pose, mirrored across both the vertical and horizontal planes. The Medusa-figure looks much the same as her "twin," but her pupils are vertically slanted and reptilian-looking. She also has a rodent's paw and tail protruding from her lips--probably a mouse. On the left side of her head, one section of her hair morphs into the body and head of a snake. The snake is ready to strike, mouth open, fangs barred. The snake's underbelly is striped width-wise while its back is striped lengthwise in a pattern corresponding to the way the Medusa's hair is depicted, in wide sections. The paper used here is off-white, perhaps somewhat more so than originally. The paper is thin and quite transparent and there is a crease running slantwise from one side to the other in the lower half; it runs across the Medusa-like woman's forehead and the left side of the crown of her head. There are some large tears in the bottom-left corner of the paper and other, smaller tears in several places near the edges as well. There are some small, gold-colored spots of discoloration and there is some tape-residue along the bottom edge, along the center and also in each corner.
Gillett, Janice
1966-1973?
All rights held by Acacia Williams
Medium: pencil on paper
Extent: 35.5 x 43.3 cm
Physical object
JG_0024
[Acrylic portrait of melancholic woman]
Portrait painting--United States--20th century. [LCSH]
Women in art [LCSH]
Surrealism [LCSH]
Portrait of a melancholic woman, from the neck up, in acrylic on paper, mounted on thick, textured, camel-colored card stock (not pictured). This painting is done in the style of Expressionism, using unrealistic colors; the woman's skin is painted in shades of pinks and purples, for instance. She is facing slightly away from the viewer, left at a 3/4 angle. The figure has a thin, angular, waif-like face, and pointed chin, with a long, thin nose and a pointed chin and full lips. Her irises and pupils are a stark, solid, extremely deep blue color, very nearly black, and the outline of her eyes is suggested in a slightly lighter blue. She is resting her right hand against her right cheek, palm out, and fingers slightly curled. The thumb appears to run underneath her chin, her little finger resting just beneath her eye, the tip of her ring finger just below and to the right of her nose, and her middle and index fingers resting near the right side of her mouth. The woman's hair is full, long, straight, and straw-colored, with some yellow highlights near the crown of the head. There's a bright yellow area on the top of the woman's right shoulder. There is no evidence of clothing, though, and it's unclear what the yellow area is meant to represent. There are some green tones on the woman's neck, perhaps representing shadow, but her underlying skin color is still purple. The paint is applied thickly in this painting, particularly in the woman's hair. Different shades of pink and purple are used to create the contours of the face and imply shadows. The painting was done on paper taken from a pad, and there are both tabs along the top, near the crown of the head, and hole punches along the left side, three of which are visible. The bottom three centimeters of the paper was folded under along the bottom edge of the paper to make the working area smaller. The paper is torn inward at the middle hole punch and there are three creases running left to right across the paper in even increments where it must have been folded at one time. One crease runs across the woman's forehead, under her bangs. The second crease runs just under the bridge of the woman's nose and just below her eyes. The third crease runs through her wrist and just beneath her bottom lip, through the yellow paint on her right shoulder. Additionally, there's a section of paper missing from the top right of the painting, slightly impacting the depiction of the woman's hair.
Gillett, Janice
1966-1973?
All rights held by Acacia Williams
Medium: acrylic on paper
Extent: 20.2 x 24.5 cm
Physical object
JG_0023
[Frog and hand in oil pastel]
Pastel drawing--United States--20th century. [LCSH]
Surrealism [LCSH]
Surrealistic pastel drawing depicts an arm and hand, in black, and a frog in a purple balloon, on right. The arm originates from just right of center at the bottom edge of the paper. The limb is unnaturally thin and long as are the fingers on the hand. Details on the hand include the joints in the fingers, the thumbnail, and creases in the palm. There's a clean-edged hole in the center of the palm of the hand; one of the frog's legs is being pulled through the hole through some unseen force. The knee of the frog is passing through the center of the hole in the hand, and the frogs leg passes out through the front of the hand. The frog's other leg overlaps the edge of the balloon; on that foot, one of the frog's toes passes over the mouth of the balloon while the other two pass over the arm. The viewer sees the frog from the bottom. Its stomach is peach colored as are the legs above the knee joint; below the knee, the frog's legs are green. The feet are the same yellow-green and the color blends into a less yellow shade of green near the frog's toes. The frog's eyes are visible on either side of its head and are the same yellow-green shade as the lower portion of the legs. The balloon the frog is inside is somehow inflated, yet not tied off. Near the bottom of the drawing, a subtle white line is drawing running along the left side of the arm; it fades away below the place where the frog's toes cross the arm. The piece is signed J. Gillett at the bottom, just right of the place the arm emerges onto the paper. The paper is thin and translucent with many nicks along the edges. It has been stored rolled with a tissue paper lining for many decades and now naturally holds this shape.
Gillett, Janice
1966-1973?
All rights held by Acacia Williams
Medium: oil pastel on paper
Extent: 45.5 x 61.2 cm
Physical object
JG_0014
Nude landscape I
Watercolor painting--United States--20th century. [LCSH]
Surrealism [LCSH]
Self-portraits [LCSH]
Female nude in art [LCSH]
Women in art [LCSH]
Pen and watercolor painting depicts a surreal scene painted from the artist's perspective looking down at her unclothed body re-imagined as a natural landscape. The figure is lying on her back, her knees up and slightly separated; her left arm, visible from the elbow up, and her left hand appear as a brown tree trunk. Trees in this painting feature detailing in black ink on the trunks; the leafy crowns are mostly green, with blue, yellow, and brown highlights and they are outlined in back ink. One tree is growing from the left thumb, while a smaller, leafy offshoot projects from the right side of the arm, between elbow and wrist. The woman's body, visible from the neck down, is painted in shades of greens and yellows, with some detail work in pen on the chest. Breasts, ribs, and stomach resemble rolling terrain and a tree grows up from the pubic area. A bright pink and orange sun, outlined in black ink, is either setting or rising between her thighs; orange paint has smudged slightly from the top of the sun into the sky, which has been left unpainted and is thus the off-white color of the watercolor paper itself. Another smudge, this time pink, appears about 4 centimeters above the top of the sun. Additionally, some blue pigment appears in the background, about 5 centimeters from the top of the paper, and runs from the midline of the paper to the right edge; it is unclear whether this mark was made intentionally by the artist. Beneath the woman's body, the land is green and blue, with dark blue silhouetting along the edges of the body and along the horizon. Approximately one to two centimeters along the bottom edge of the painting are left empty, except where the artist has titled the painting <em>Nude Landscape I</em> (bottom, left corner) and signed her name (as J. Gillett) in the bottom, right-hand corner. There are several strips of invisible, acetate tape along the left edge of the painting, as well as tape along the bottom and across each corner except the top left. There is some slight discoloration of the paper itself, which is obvious in places that were left unpainted. The paper was clearly removed from a spiral bound pad, which was bound at the top; the tabs from the spiral binding are largely still attached. The paper is somewhat crinkled in a few places, as well and a small chunk is missing from the top left corner. The paper is medium-lightweight with a medium grain and is portrait-orientation, taller than it is wide.
Gillett, Janice
1966-1969?
All rights held by Acacia Williams
Medium: watercolor on paper
Extent: 20.6 x 39.5 cm
English
Physical object
JG_0016
[Blue watercolor foot with cigarette]
Watercolor painting--United States--20th century. [LCSH]
Foot in art [LCSH]
Surrealism [LCSH]
Ink and watercolor painting of a person's right leg and foot, from the shin down, with a cigarette held between the first and second toes. The skin is painted a blue color, with the leg originating from the top edge of the paper, and the toenails are painted red. The blue of the skin varies in color from light, baby blue to darker blues, with the darker hues concentrated around the ankle, heel, instep, and along the left edge of the foot from the big toe to where the arch begins. The foot encompasses only half of the paper; the remaining paper has been left blank. It's not clear if the cigarette is lit or not; that end of the cigarette extends beyond the scope of the paper. The ink drawing outlines nearly the entire foot and adds details showing the location of the tendons on the instep of the foot, as well as the malleolus (the knobby bone on the side of the foot near the ankle). The pen outline doesn't quite extend all the way up the back of the calf, stopping about 1.5 centimeters from the edge of the paper. The paper is lighter-weight than many of the other watercolor papers in this collection, and more strongly textured. It is yellowed with age, and is further yellow-stained all along the edge on the side with the cigarette. The upper left-hand corner is lightly creased.
Gillett, Janice
1966-1973?
All rights held by Acacia Williams
Material: ink and watercolor on paper
Extent: 20.8 x 30.6 cm
Physical object
JG_0011