Golnaz Jebelli
Golnaz was born in India to Persian parents. She has lived and worked in Sweden, Iran, France and Switzerland prior to moving to London. She studied Fine Arts at Parsons School of Design in Paris and also holds First Class LL.B and LL.M. degrees in Law. She has previously worked in the arts, including at a London based art consultancy and at the auction house, Sotheby’s.
Influenced by eastern wisdom and the works of Carl Jung on Archetypes and the Shadow, Golnaz Jebelli’s latest Solo Exhibitions (Beyond Reflections - November 2023, Water & Shadow - May 2023, The Inner Child - June 2022 and Nomads - October 2021) focused on the shadow and people. She has participated in several group shows (including The Winter Show, Linden Hall Studio and Works on Paper, The Gallery at Green and Stone).
Golnaz Jebelli’s successful collaboration in the creation of the football kit for COMO 1907 FC, resulted in her being invited to create a series of paintings inspired by Lake Como for the opening exhibition of Galleria Como in November 2023.
Her painting Shadow III was shortlisted by the College of Psychic Studies for the art Competition: Inspiration from Dreams and Visions in December 2022.
Mythical Passage was also shortlisted by the College of Psychic Studies for the art Competition: Inspiration from the Otherworldly in November 2023. Both shortlisted works respectively formed part of online group exhibitions in 2023 and 2024.
Her ‘automatic’ marks and brushstrokes suggest something invisible, but they also evoke recognizable shapes and figures such as a face, limbs, animals, and sea creatures, and at times may also reminiscence of Persian writing and calligraphy, revealing the artist’s roots. There is an attempt to circumvent rationalism and access unconscious drives in a search for ancient myths. The characteristic feature of Golnaz’s brushstrokes suggests a non-representational language that alludes to signs that exist outside of time and place.
The series of paintings thus draws inspiration from the lake landscape, the depth that darkness provides and, ultimately, the way the light can shine through it. There is a bold attempt by the artist to investigate the depths; to what may exist in the depths of the lake, as well as in the depths of the psyche. However, it is also a search for the light that is ultimately central to her art. Light creates a certain movement, sometimes scattered and travelling, swirling, and dancing downwards.
Golnaz Jebelli works with private clients receiving commissions for portraits and collaborates with companies and fashion brands to create abstract artwork commissions. Her work is in a number of private collections across the UK, Europe, United States and Asia.
Available works
SHADOW I 2022, Oil on Canvas, 102 x 92 cm I painted this work in several layers. It was a struggle. It changed. It started with an image of my feet immersed in water and my shadow cast over it. But with the change alchemical transformation came about. It has the fibers from my daughter’s night gown weaved inside of the paint. Somehow it has her energy in it - it was a part of me struggling to understand her, and also myself in relation to her. There is no wrong way in hanging this painting - different patterns and lines appear when seen from a different angle. Always interesting when I hear how different people see different things in my paintings. Meaning is very much dependent on the direction from which the work is seen.
SHADOW II 2022, Oil on Canvas, 102 x 92 cm Perhaps the shadow is more clearly identifiable in Shadow II. How I step into water - into the unknown. Into subconsciousness. In Jungian psychology, water represents the subconsciousness. Jung’s work on Archetypes and the Shadow strongly impacted me and continuous to. An ongoing love affair. I was reading him obsessively for some time and return to it over and over - its infinite. When I started painting water I wasn’t sure how I would capture this translucent non-static element on a two dimensional surface. Art involves a spiritual struggle, but also attempting to create something while overcoming technical and material limitations. Thus forms and shapes come to life - one person saw a skull (top left hand side).
SHADOW V 2022, Oil on Canvas, 122 x 92 cm Shadows, scribbles, flowers, birds, and other living things - automatic drawing
SHADOW VI 2022, oil on canvas, 122 x 92 cm “Taking it in its deepest sense, the shadow is the invisible saurian tail that man still drags behind him. Carefully amputated, it becomes the healing serpent of mysteries. Only monkeys parade with it.” - Carl Jung, The Integration of the Personality. (1939)