Spreading kindness through public art—that’s Ilena Finocchi’s mission. With murals throughout San Joaquin County and into Sacramento, each of her public displays has an underlying message, to be kind to others. “It’s a moment to sort of pause and maybe give somebody something in their day that’s a kernel of goodness,” Ilena says of her works, which include a wolf and bird mural on the Tracy Grand Theatre, an octopus piece on the side of the Fair Oaks Library, and two utility boxes in Sacramento featuring various animals created to appeal to children. Her other notable local pieces include 15 tile murals in Lodi commissioned by St. Anne’s Church.
Ilena’s most recent piece is the library mural that went up in August 2019. She was commissioned for the piece after submitting a proposal for the open grant hosted by the Stockton Arts Commission. Her idea for an octopus at the center of the artwork, which illustrates the power of reading, was chosen by the organization for several reasons. As Ilena explains it, the octopus has three hearts and nine brains. For years it has been a symbol of complexity, diversity, intelligence, vision, and insight.
On the mural, the Octopus is underneath an “imagination machine,” featuring drawings by six local students. Ilena chose the pieces from nearby schools as well as library attendees. To keep the integrity of the original pieces, Ilena created stencils of the young artists’ work to transfer their original concepts onto the mural. “Public art for me… gives more directly to the people and you can just be much more accessible than when showing in galleries.”
As part of the grant, Ilena also hosted multiple workshops around the Fair Oaks area in flip book animation. The response was so positive that it has encouraged Ilena to consider more community and student workshops in the future. “I really wanted to plant a seed not just for drawing, but animation,” she says. Right now, however, Ilena is busy working in her other mediums. Recently she re-did the two Lodi murals after they were vandalized in June last year—”I think it takes so much to make something happen and to have somebody come and destroy it pretty easily, it’s very sad,” she says of the vandalization.
The majolica process was a long one, and because the mixed mason stains couldn’t be recreated from the original, Ilena had to resort to a different process. Working with a company in Florida, the tiles have been reproduced on porcelain using digitally scanned versions of her watercolor artwork. They were then color-matched and installed in place of the broken tiles.
Ilena’s background is impressive. Before branching off into public art, she mostly showed in galleries, including Art Basel in Miami, the SoFA Chicago, and the Museum of Art & Design in New York. She’s also traveled across the country giving lectures on art and sold her work internationally. With a BFA from Youngstown State University and an MFA from Rochester Institute of Technology’s School for American Craft, followed by residencies at the Archie Bray Foundation in Montana and the McKnight Residency in Minnesota.
In between Ilena has been pursuing her other big passion—stop-motion animation. She is almost done editing her first stop-motion animation film, which she says incorporates everything she’s good at. Locals have been following the progress of her tale about creatures in the home, which features her husband and two cats—the short film also pays homage to classic monster films—on Instagram at @ilenasworldasif.
She’s also working on a second short film series to publish online featuring a moon puppet she created. The shorts are about perspectives on the world and were heavily influenced by local poetry.
At the same time, Ilena continues to pursue 3D art, building a portfolio of sculptures to broaden her influence on public art. She also creates jewelry and continues to apply for public art installations nationally. “As far as the public art realm goes it’s kind of a hat toss,” she says. “You just keep throwing your ideas in and until someone catches one.”
Follow Her Work:
IlenaF.com
@ilenasworldasif