STATEMENT

Jill Hotchkiss investigates the hidden intelligence of natural systems.

Jill Hotchkiss (MFA, Pratt Institute) works through sculptural drawings, carved wood reliefs, large-scale scrolls, and public artworks. Rooted in dendritic forms—branching structures found across plants, fungi, waterways, and atmospheric forces—her work visualizes ecological connective tissue: patterns of interdependence that bind living forms together.

Hotchkiss approaches nature not as subject matter, but as method

She has developed a set of hybrid processes unique to her practice that merge classical, old-world techniques with mechanical and contemporary digital workflows. Drawing, carving, burning, erosion, and gilding form the core vocabulary of her work. Observational ink drawings on paper evolve into metal drawings—created through an innovative method that allows her to draw directly with metal on paper. These multi-stage translations culminate in carved wood reliefs through a distinct process of accelerated erosion. This specialized, reductive carving technique reveals the inner fingerprint of the wood, transforming each piece into a contemporary artifact that carries embedded time, memory, and spirit, allowing tree, mineral, and light to re-emerge through material transformation. This progression functions like printmaking in reverse.

Historically used to sanctify power, gilding is reimagined as a contemporary ecological language rooted in reverence and preservation.

Gold, silver, and copper function as drawings made of light, rendering botanical and root systems whose light-based architectures are hidden within the plant and extended beneath the soil line. By bringing these invisible structures to the surface, Hotchkiss’s work invites a shift in values—from extraction to reciprocity, from domination to participation—and positions plants and nature not as resources, but as kin.

BIO
Jill Hotchkiss (b. Hollywood, Florida) holds an MFA from Pratt Institute in New York City and aBFA from the University of Florida and. Her work is held in major public and private collections globally and has been featured in Architectural Digest, Forbes, and Art Basel Magazine. Hotchkiss has completed residencies at the School of Visual Arts (NY) and Oolite Arts (Miami), and was commissioned by the City of West Palm Beach for an 80-foot public mural Botanical Preserve in South Olive Park.
She lives and works in Boca Raton, Florida.