Erice, Sicily
Erice, Sicily, 1993
Jill Mathis (American, born 1964)
#1999.0012.0010
The photographs of artist Jill Mathis are mostly close-cropped scenes or still lifes in black and white, often accompanied by what the artist calls "parallel text"—a related word or phrase printed over the photograph. Her subjects include objects, people, animals, and landscapes, and the influence of her various homes is apparent in her work, from her "Rodeo" series, completed while she lived in Texas, to her later series "Sicily." A native of San Antonio, Texas, Mathis studied photography and sculpture at the University of Texas in San Antonio and Austin. Mathis was then accepted to study photojournalism at the University of Texas at Austin based on her portfolio documenting the homeless population and political climate in San Antonio. After living in New York City for many years—where she worked as an assistant to the photographer Ralph Gibson—she moved to Italy where she now lives and works.
