Jelena Telecki (b.1976) makes paintings, drawings, and sculptures that investigate the possibilities of representation and the ways it articulates the politics of personal and shared narratives. Informal and formal power dynamics, intimacy and violence, and how these are recognised and depicted are central to Telecki’s enquiry. Oil and Water reflects on the first two decades of Telecki’s practice (2005–2025) through the development of a new suite of paintings, retracing the figures and ideas central to past works through her primary mode of painting.

Born in Yugoslavia, Telecki migrated to Australia in 1999 where she currently lives and works in Gadigal Nura Sydney. The events of this personal history are the foundation for the content and style of her work, which frequently reckons with pathos and immiscibility (hence the title) as departures for exploring broader sociopolitical constructs.