Milan Jilka

Milan Jilka (he/him) is a contemporary abstract painter. His work involves deconstructing and reconfiguring elements of the natural world (plants, flowers, forms, and color) into dynamic, colorful, and pattern-laden abstract compositions. Milan’s work has been exhibited both locally and nationally, including the past 3 years in the Walton Arts Center’s “Our Art RegionalExhibition” in Fayetteville, AR, the Arkansas Arts Council’s “2024 Small Work on Paper” touring exhibition, MidnightGallery in Bentonville, AR, Arts on Main in Van Buren, AR, Arc Gallery inSan Francisco, CA, and Manifest Gallery in Cincinnati, OH. As well as creating art, Milan has been a Visual Arts Educator in Springdale, AR for the last 9 years. He has a PhD in ArtEducation from the University of North Texas and an MFA in Painting from the University ofArkansas. Milan is of South Asian descent, born in Thun, Switzerland, and was raised in Canada before coming to the United States.

Artist Statement: As an abstract painter, I enjoy taking certain aspects of my physical world-such as plants, flowers, forms, and colors-and reconfiguring these things to produce dynamic, colorful, and pattern-laden abstract compositions.The process of creating each of these pieces can differ; from starting with a basic grid, to using a particular photograph that I’ve taken, or to merely a color scheme borrowed from an object or form to begin the process. I rarely sketch out my ideas, relying more on making artistic decisions intuitively as I work through the process of painting. In this case, much of my work cycles through multiple re-workings until a visually interesting direction emerges.The main component of each of my pieces involves some sort of patterning, and can sometimes be mathematical and sometimes organic. For me, patterning works as a way to enhance both the forms and colors that I’ve drawn and painted on the surface, and eventually, help to inhabit each piece with a sense of movement and vitality.