Jillian Mamey Critelli is a fine artist based in Goleta, CA. Her spirited and imaginative work celebrates artistic freedom by capturing both the seen and unseen through photography, abstract painting, and mixed media collage. Originally from Glendale, CA, she attended Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY for Photography, and carries a BFA with honors in Fine Art Media from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA.

“Shamanic Paintings” are a series by Jillian Mamey Critelli that define her signature style of acrylic collage. The interlocking colors and layers lead the viewer’s eyes on a hypnotic journey of personal contemplation. True to their name, “Shamanic Paintings” were inspired by a spiritual quest. A chance encounter with a woman named “Anne” gave Jillan the opportunity to read her “Akashic Records” (in occult circles, the fabled “Book of Life” in which our destiny is written), and was instructed to begin work immediately in a new medium: large-scale acrylics. Critelli soon found herself caught in a flurry of activity that culminated in the first of nine 36in x 36in works. Often exhibited together in one enormous 108in x 108in panel, she now feels compelled to share pieces of that exclusive collection for the enjoyment of collectors. Critelli’s time-consuming process involves liquefying acrylic paint, molding it into 3-dimensional pieces, and interweaving hundreds of dried pieces onto a canvas wet with paint. Think Jackson Pollock meets Basquiat -- or Nickelodeon -- as the Shamanic Paintings’ tactile splatter is a nostalgic callback to 1990s youth culture.