Private: Jill Letten

Jill Letten is an artist from Hamilton, Ontario, accredited with a BFA from McMaster University in 2021. She is a contemporary realist painter creating acrylic paintings that visualize realistic, and at times surrealistic, environments. ‘Anemoia’ has become a term of interest, defined as “a nostalgic sense of longing for a past you have never lived.” Pulling from mid-century aesthetics and imagery for visual inspiration, Jill is interested in layering visuals of social euphoria and rose-tinted idealism that call on the past to be viewed in a modern context. Inviting viewers to examine beneath the fragments of what is visible to connect and relate to portraits of past lives through a relatable or critical lens.

Jill’s work has been shown at Hamilton Artist Inc, McMaster Innovation Park, Glenhyrst Art Gallery, Paul Elia Gallery, You Me Gallery, Northern Contemporary, Blue Crow Gallery, Cedar Ridge Gallery, and The Art Gallery of Hamilton. Jill is currently an Artist in Residence for Art of Creation, a partnership between the Art Gallery of Hamilton and McMaster University’s Sloboda Lab, and a 2023 Emerging Artist in Residence at Centre[3].