ARTIST BIO
Jill Hellman
Jill Hellman was born in New York City and raised in a nearby suburb. As the daughter of a dancer and a science writer, she grew up around an eclectic mix of family friends who influenced her both artistically and academically. She was always creative — from the first grade art competition she won to the quirky abstract doodles she felt compelled to create throughout her life — yet she always followed other career paths. Art was a private affair.
She earned a BA and MA in anthropology, did curatorial and exhibition work in two natural history museums, managed an art gallery in LA, then became a development director in NYC, raising money for two hospitals, a university and a dance company.
A lifelong fascination with the unconscious then led her to complete a degree in psychology and follow a path of self discovery that brought her back to her passion of making art. While running a private psychotherapy practice she began taking classes at night in drawing, painting and collage.
A diagnosis of an aggressive breast cancer in 2016, followed by a year of treatment, became her wake up call. When she was well enough after treatment, a shift in priorities and now-or-never lessons that cancer had to teach led her to step up her art study, follow her muse and find her artistic voice.
Jill’s mixed-media paintings have been shown and collected nationally and internationally since 2015.
