Billis/Williams Gallery is pleased to present Zära Monet: The Light Changes When It Snows. The exhibition features a new series of paintings that flicker between majestic and psychological, while engaging questions of queer feminism and embodied power. The exhibition opens on January 10th and continues through February 14th, 2026.
Zara Monet’s paintings are gloriously opulent and alluring – rich satin gowns, delicate lace edging, a string of pearls, all punctuated by extravagantly oversized jewels. These historically and iconically feminine accouterments (ruffles and circle skirts and corseted bodices) are beautifully compelling but without telling the whole story. The jewels become almost like armor or a shield – a diversion or misdirection to obscure the truth. Dreamlike and romantic, the paintings are a nod to classical portraits in their formal qualities but somehow unmoored in time. They are not past nor are they present.
As the eye wanders through the compositions, the viewer is entranced by the exquisitely rendered forms and luxuriously ornate imagery. The paintings are seductive and glowing – it is easy to simply enjoy them for their technical skill and jewel tones. Monet’s deep understanding of natural light is apparent. She embraces the nuances of how color shifts over the course of the day – of how sunlight feels so different from moonlight. In these paintings, color fluctuate between cool and warm in almost imperceptible shifts between notes of pale sage, icy blue, and copper undertones.
The paintings are magnetic – they call us to look closer and revel in their detail and technique. But we never feel that we see the full person – the full picture. We see bits, pieces, details, but don’t we don’t know her story. The paintings are hyper-focused on feminine signifiers – Monet is using her vast skill to illustrate the narrow ways in which people are viewed and how we simultaneously use material culture to shape how others view us and how we define ourselves.
The artist is asking us to understand the ways in which we as the viewer, like society, compartmentalize people and how limiting that perspective is both to the viewer and the subject. Is the subject intentionally only sharing what she wants us to see or is society defining her by these limited views? Perhaps the truth lies somewhere in between – but we can hope that through awareness of how dominant societal narratives and expectations shape our sense of the world and of ourselves, that we can break those long standing norms to see each other fully as unique individuals.
Zära Monet (b. 1988, California) and received her BA at UCLA and MFA at Laguna College of Art and Design. Zara’s approach to conceptual inquiry in painting is shaped by her academic research and studio practice. Her work as been featured in numerous galleries and museums including MOAH, Lancaster Museum of Art and History. She lives and works in Southern California.
