Nila Devaney

Lives and works in Philadelphia, PA, USA

Artist statement

I am Nila Devaney and I’m an oil painter who is interested in the intersection between people and creativity. I am deeply inspired by the Philadelphia community that surrounds me, feeling in awe of how gathering takes place—both in public and intimate spaces. In my paintings, I like to portray celebration. My understanding of celebration is that it can be so many things at once, often wrapped up with sorrow, anger, grief and other complexities. To honor this, I paint people together. In my paintings are unknown angels I've invented, as well as people that have been in my life in one way or another -- a person forgotten but familiar, a close friend, a stranger I passed on the street. I have compiled these faces into compassionate imagined spaces, thinking about the way individuals decorate and display themselves, and the larger landscape created when people collect together. I am also deeply invested in muralism and my love of public art is influenced by my time with Amber Art & Design, through which I learned about the power of vibrant, large-scale community murals. Some other influences are: noticing the way people accidentally form tableaus at bus-stops, wind in the trees, bodies of water, everybody's hands, and listening to parts of a song as a car drives by your window—all the unexpected symbols.

Artwork