CHIL MOTT

SILL LIFE 

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Friday • July 22nd, 2022

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Arch Enemy Arts is thrilled to present SILL LIFE, our first solo feature of New England artist  Chil Mott. An incredible selection of 5 original oil paintings, each depicts a stunningly magnified view of deceased insects.

 

With brilliant specificity and careful technique, Mott’s paintings are meticulously rendered through endless layers of oil glazing. By simply replicating the crisp transparency of a dragonfly's wing, or the iridescence of a blue bottle’s delicate exoskeleton, his seamless photorealism presents a deceptive ease. A style that was immediately born at the beginning of the artist’s mere 6 years in painting, Chil attributes this unique subject as more happenstance than being contrived.

 

A body of work that has become an unlikely continuation, the series grows:

 

“I started out with one portrait of a wasp that had met its end trapped inside the back door. I had no intentions of doing a series, much less 25 (so far) but I was quickly drawn into the grisly world of insect life, death, and decay. I was initially looking for a subject that would allow me to explore whichever direction I wanted to take my painting, but it feels as if the subject has directed me more than I have guided it. Like most subject matter, the further I dig into it the more potential seems to appear.  Some possibilities are more compositional, some emotional and some more direct. The longer I examine the more I find myself identifying with these bugs. I'm trying to decamp from the repressive cobwebs in my brain.”

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-- writeup by Alexander Medlin II

 

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Chil Mott's SILL LIFE exhibition will be on view from July 22nd - August 14th, 2022.
Sold works will begin to ship the week of August 21st, unless other arrangements have been made.

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All items marked with a red dot have been sold.
Payment plan options are available.

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