I look at Her and see the universe, Oil on canvas, 40" x 30", 2024. 

I look at Her and see the universe is a painting about love and the way the universe comes alive when you find your person. The fireworks show that instant spark and excitement that comes with meeting your love. The allium flowers echo the shape of a firework bursting, but also represent new beginnings, good luck, and the blessings that come with growing together. Her face, painted in deep cosmic blues, show the vastness and wonder of her spirit. In the background is a purple martin birdhouse. The martin is often linked to Aphrodite, but the birdhouse itself is used to show shelter, security, and nurture of love. 

I’ve looked at clouds from both sides now…, Lillian Jacobson, Oil on canvas, 40” x 30”, 2023.

I explore identity through portraits overlaid with imagery that reveals deeper narratives that go beyond the surface. I’ve looked at clouds from both sides now… is a bit meta in that it is a self-portrait about the process of self-discovery. It depicts self-reflection as an ongoing journey, with my hands poised so that my fingertips are always reaching and interpreting what I find.

The clouds are another method for me to shape meaning from random shapes and try to force connections even when I know so little.

The vibrant colors are those of the Colombian flag. Though raised in the US, my Latiné identity has shaped my life experience whether I have liked it or not. #Throwback to walking down W. Baltimore Street after the 2016 election and having a man I did not know shout at me, “You better get your green card together darling because Trump is going to deport all of you.”

The title is a lyric borrowed from the Joni Mitchell song, "Both Sides Now." As Joni sings, “I really don’t know life at all.” My paintings are part of an endless journey to uncover the depths of our own identities.

Miss Baltimore, Lillian Jacobson, Oil on canvas, 36” x 24”, 2024. 

Miss Baltimore portrays a young woman on a city sidewalk, interlaid with the textures and architecture of Baltimore. The iconic Baltimore rowhome is projected across her body,  with bricks outlined on her face. The rowhome's shadows create a tiara-like shape on her, an emblem of strength, dignity, honor, and pride.

Kingdom, Lillian Jacobson, Oil on canvas, 36” x 48”, 2024.

This painting is about observing the world from whatever distance you need to feel safe. The lush green around him contrasts with the cooler tones and the bare trees on his face, showing that divide between the outer world and his inner space. There is peace in creating your own kingdom—a space where you’re still grounded in the space around you, but in control of your own energy and peace.

The Daydreamer, Lillian Jacobson, Oil on canvas, 24" x 20", 2025.

This painting is about the protective power of imagination, something I've leaned on a lot in the past few years. When I am overwhelmed, I daydream myself somewhere else, often on a warm and sunny beach. The sign in the painting is from Currency Studio on North Avenue. I used to work in a rather toxic environment across the street, and every time I walked out and read the sign "You are your most valuable currency," I felt relief and eventually worked up the courage to quit that job. That became a mantra for me and the moment of walking out of work and reclaiming myself felt like the same escape I find in daydreams.

I Am Home., Lillian Jacobson, Oil on canvas, 72" x 60", 2025.

This piece is a declaration. I define where I belong. This painting is about not needing to be invited in and not wanting to be anyway. Their idea of home may be bright and colorful, but it's falling apart and unlivable. The bricks reflect strength and stability because home is what someone carries with them and in the company they keep. This painting reflects coming out on the other side of the in-betweens after going through burnout, setting boundaries, and defining self and presence.

Veiled, Lillian Jacobson, Oil on Canvas, 24" x 30", 2025.

In Veiled, a woman simultaneously emerges and recedes. Her face is gently cupped by one hand, which is held by the other in a quiet, doubled gesture of self-protection. Fern leaves, with their zipper-like shapes, overlay both the background and the figure, camouflaging her within their pattern. Ferns often symbolize resilience and growth in shadowed places. The figure is in a liminal state, in the process of unzipping but not yet fully revealed. There is a tension to being suspended between visibility and retreat.

The title Veiled speaks to this tension. It points to concealment, not just in the visual sense but in the emotional and psychological layers the subject holds close. There’s protection in the veil, but also a longing to lift it.

As part of the Still Warm series, which reflects on death, survival, and the traces we leave behind, this painting holds space for the quiet moments where someone is still choosing life, in all the layered, complicated ways that can look.

Still Warm, Lillian Jacobson, Oil on canvas, 12" x 6.5", 2025

In this series, I am working on call-and-response works. Some paintings in this series will speak directly to each other and exist in the "Still Warm Cinematic Universe" (lol). This small painting is the "response" to Resting In My Peace.

This is the moment after hitting send on my resignation letter. The letter has been sent, the screen is shut, and my mug of tea is sitting on top. Behind it, my desk chair is turned slightly outward, in between me leaving and returning. 

If I were to disappear suddenly, what would be left behind? That question is the essence of both this painting and this series of works. This project is anchored in the ordinary traces of living that will not vanish in an instant, even when I have moved on.

How Great Thou Art (My Mom-mom and Pop-pop), Lillian Jacobson, Oil on panel, 18” x 24”, 2023.

How Great Thou Art (My Mom-mom and Pop-pop) is a work to honor my Mother's parents, showing their continual presence in my life. They are no longer in this world, but they continue to visit me in my dreams often. This painting depicts these visits and how their togetherness in their visits bring me peace.

Lillian is Tired. Lillian Jacobson, Oil on canvas, 24” x 30”, 2024.

Lillian is Tired is a self-portrait capturing the exhaustion felt by many in today's world, particularly those navigating the intersecting identities of being a working-class individual and a woman of color in the U.S. in 2024. The painting shows me in a pink floral robe and gold hoop earrings, my head turned to the side, with a multi-color shadow cast behind me. The shadow contrasts the plain beige wall, showing how my creativity endures the exhaustion I feel.