In sixth grade, Troyli was drawing and selling “hardcore porn comic strips” to his classmates for five dollars each. His cheekiness has evolved, and now he focuses more on self-portraiture and large-scale works reflecting on themes like labor or race – but embedding them with a witty sense of humor. And in the coming years, he hopes to evolve with his life experiences, something he’s eager to reflect on his paintings.
On September 12th,
Monique Meloche gallery in Chicago is opening his first solo show after completing an MFA program at the University of South Florida. Thinking of it as “a larger piece in its entirety,” Troyli has approached the process of making the exhibition more conceptually to create a narrative within the multiple micro-narratives. If you want to get to know him better, read this interview where we discuss his first artistic milestone, performance and humor in his work, and his hopes for the future.