Jhyda Pura-Quilla

Jhyda Pura-Quilla is an Ecuadorian multidisciplinary artist based in Jersey City, N.J. Daughter of the Southern and Northern continents whose work captivates whilst making her subjects relatable and mysterious. Rhythmic ephemeral moments, celebration of nudes, and candid snaps are captured in available-light and presented without retouching post capture.

Her creative expression was not only encouraged, but nurtured by her Mamå who instilled the discipline of involved craft for new art discoveries whilst allowing full immersion by her curious daughter. The library was a source of poetry, biographies, philosophy, classic horror films, vinyl recordings of movie soundtracks, and the works of Edgar Alan Poe, Mercedes Sosa, Sylvia Plath, Maya Angelou, Pablo Neruda, and Langston Hughes, Etta James to name a few.

As a child, Jhyda explored art mediums, poetry, and the golden age of cinema, painting her bedroom walls or her face with tempera before heading out to school. Dancing and singing to the anguish of country, the profound spirituality of blues and jazz music or rock vibes were her daily companions at home. In her teens she took the quick train ride into NYC immersing herself in the LES, Loisaida-Lower East Side, it was a rambunctious belly of creativity nourished by diverse cultures with emerging artists and musicians defining flavor and substance impacting generations to come. Vibrant squatter communities epitomized art and activism. Punk, rock, goth, reggae, hip hop, Latin fusion, and experimental sound concerts announced social and political dichotomy in thumping fervor of gritty streets. In the 80”s to early 90”s the city was palpable, in velvet glide deep into sultry night life.

At 15, she captured and developed her first role of film, it was at this point she understood that the silver halide magic was created by enjoying looking through the viewfinder, releasing the shutter, and diving into dark room discovery.

For Jhyda the darkroom is serious fun, a lab where chemistry recipes lift instant rhythmic captures into the tangible within perimeters of film type, desired tonality, saturation, contrast, and depth.

“Drawn in by beautiful bewildering mammals, an infinite exploration.”

Jhyda Pura-Quilla