Artist profile
Adrian
Jilich
Adrian paints scenes from urban neighbourhoods, most often inspired by he's time lived in Melbourne.
Based in Victoria's West, Adrian continues to blend modern living and popular culture with nostalgic city suburbs.
Adrian spent most of his working life as a carpenter working on Melbourne construction sites.
In 2015, he began renting out a studio space in Brunswick to recommit his cause and love for painting. It's taken most of a decade to find his niche.
Career Highlights
- Solo exhibition at Off the Kerb, Collingwood 2024
- Self funded solo show at Sandbox Studio, Brunswick 2022
- Feature in The Design Files article, 2025
Artist Interview
What medium do you work with, and why have you chosen them?
I began working in Acrylics in 2023 when we moved into a small town house in Footscray. My studio became a confined office space just off the kitchen and livingroom. The oil paints I had previously been working with, no longer were practical. I began to enjoy the process of constructing works in multiple, thin layers. It also seemed to fit the character of my work.
How does your artwork get from initial concept to exhibition stage?
I take a lot of pictures through the course of my day. A street angle, a house or something with interesting light. I make little thumbnail sketches out of them, stick a few on the wall. When it comes to starting a new work. I pick a sketch, I go back to photographic referencs and I begin. My goal isn't recreating an image, but make something of my own from them.
Can you tell us a little more about your creative working environment/studio?
I work from home. My studio isn't much right now. It consists of a large table scattered in empty tubes, dried out brushes, thumbnail sketches and old notes. umongst the mess is a clean pallet, four to five clean brushes, five or six tubes of paint and a canvas board on the easel.
