Meet BOJITT | Bojana Ilic BOJITT – the artist behind the name BOJITT

We had the good fortune of connecting with BOJITT and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi BOJITT, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
It is really not a question, I grew up in the family of business owners, I always knew I want to make my product my art my dream- and this is what I do the best.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Since moving from Serbia to Chicago 15 years ago, my practice has focused on painting–canvases, murals, and commissions united by gesture and purpose. My abstractions tell stories through mixed media like acrylic and spray paint, bold colors focused on climax and culmination. Stories inspire me, but their perspective springs from my own. Tales of overcoming are my favorite, yet I recognize survivorship is just part of the human experience. Once a story pours into my soul it’s alchemized into possibilities like color palettes and arrangements of texture. The paintings that result honor every complexity, from rising action to denouement…

Abstract expressionism traditionally idolizes individual moments. My bold abstractions tell entire stories through vivacious mixed media like acrylic and spray paint with a focus on climax and culmination– the end results of real interactions. I work entirely in abstraction because I’m seeking abstract themes from the in-between. My multidisciplinary practice spans studio painting, public murals, and client commissions, united by a signature sense of gesture and purpose. Stories serve my greatest inspiration, but their perspective springs from my own.

My career started 20 years ago in Serbia, where I worked avidly as a fashion designer. Every collection included hand-painted elements and asymmetry–the early days of my practice’s present colorful chaos, its delicate balance. I transitioned to painting when I moved to Chicago in 2007. I’d always planned to leave home—recognized the limits Serbia’s economic state implied at the hands of NATO bombs and all the rest. Moving to America was a reset. Though I held executive-level achievements in Serbia, I started at square one. In ESL classes I came to appreciate the immense diversity of this place, alongside its ongoing injustices.

Tales of overcoming have always been my favorite. Studio work offers the artist catharsis, but painting for other people provides an emotional service. Commissioned work starts with a conversation between myself and an individual or wider community. Once a story pours into my soul it’s then alchemized into material possibilities like color palettes and arrangements of texture. Time is an unseen medium–I take regular intervals to step away. There are intentional moments of leading and following in my practice, chasing and being chased. All the planning is my being chased, receiving both stories and subconscious guidance.

Painting is the chasing, a meditative dance honed through breathing and my own yoga practice. Each artwork holds its own bespoke symbolic language suited to its story. Shapes become characters, drops and splashes direct the flow of energy and action. My own handwriting punctuates every tale with an exclamation point–loops of automatic writing like actual words the viewer inadvertently projects their own narrative onto. Survivorship is just one badge a person wears. I include every part of a story from rising action to denouement to honor variety within the human experience. They manifest as layers.

Every time life requires a reset, my commitment to art gains renewed vigor. An assuredness that, like everyone, I must keep going at any cost. This assuredness grounds the necessary, omnipresent uncertainty in my painting practice. Although my background in design lends an at times unconventional approach to abstract expressionism, uncertainty creates space for the moment. Every project must provide room for unexpected problem solving, like jazz.

Maybe it’s the designer in me, but art should have a function. Someday I would like my practice to yield a physical space where creatives can congregate and communicate. Until then, the various channels in my practice serve a common purpose to elevate authentic stories and inspire viewers to recognize the immense potential within them. Every ephemeral spirit contains entire volumes, from rising action to denouement. My abstractions dance towards the liminal space where passion, moments, and music meet the concrete: color, texture, and details.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Most of my good friends live around the world, we all left Serbia in our 20’s. Only few are still there. When any of them visits I make sure I feed them well, we start with Serbian food – of course, at 016 Restaurant in Lincoln Square. Than we make sure we visit Uptown ART and Murals- and Green Mill for music. My favorite! Than Fulton Market is a must! We will definitely visit Willis Tower for the birds view of the city, and for my art in Franklin Lobby (all my friends want to go there first to see it.) Art Institute and MCA are my favorite museums in the city, and Museum of Architecture is on that list – or even better Architectural Boat Tour is a must. River North Galleries and Showrooms give a good walk and beautiful food option in the area. Pilsen – I save the whole day for it! Opera or Broadway show with classic Italian dinner and stroll to the river walk. And I will save 2 full days to make sure they see the neighborhoods- the rest of them. we will definitely go on a bike ride on Lake Shore Path, and through the Lincoln Park…One day we will visit Hyde Park and go to Bridge Port Art Center and Zhou B… When I moved to Chicago in 2007- I fall in love with this city, with the vest variety
of all the flares it can give. Still to the day, No matter I love NY ans SD, Chicago is, in my opinion, the most complex city in U.S

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My late father and my Mom who allowed me to put my art on the walls at early age.( yes walls were covered in art ). My late grandfather who gave me the first knowledge of fabrics and how to saw ( i cot his curtains to make a skirt without asking ) My son who is the inspiration and the best challenge and the greatest love in my life ( yes, you have to go to school and clean your room). My sister who once told me to find a real job – and went and opened her own company. ( thank you for keeping it real). My partner who is so down to the earth that sometimes I think he is unreal ( he thinks I am a normal one in the family) All humans who support my art in any way. I love you all and I am thankful for everything you ever done to support me., for all your reactions – My ART exist because of YOU!

Website: Www.bojittart.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/bojanailic_bojitt?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bojanailicbojitt/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Bojitt

Other: https://maps.app.goo.gl/xjVFnoMTaCunsbhZ7?g_st=ic

Image Credits
Photographers: Irv Vaz, Michelle Ramos and Vittoria Benzine