About

Greta Jarvi is primarily an oil painter and explores the perennial subject of the human form in sensual and erotic states of being. 

Greta Jarvi was born in Gardner, Massachusetts. Currently, she lives and works in Concord, Massachusetts. She received her BFA with a concentration in painting from UMass Amherst in 2023. She studied under Young Min Moon, Shona Macdonald, and Alexis Khur, all of whom helped her develop her artistic sensibilities. Additional artists that she looks up to include the great feminist figure painters, Joan Semmel and Jenna Gribbon.

Greta always gravitated towards creative expression as a means to connect with others. She began taking painting classes at the Fitchburg Art Museum when she was three years old. During high school, art took took a back seat and she felt the emptiness that left inside her. Taking a gap year in France to reflect on what she desired to do next in her life, she took a painting class with Stephane Castella, a French artist based in Toulouse. From this experience, she resolved to dedicate her life to art because she could not imagine life without it.  

Greta’s work explores the relationship between the artist and the muse. Her paintings are based on personal photographs that depict herself and her current and previous partners in intimate states of being. She is interested in how communion in close, loving relationships is an experience for some, and one that has become private. Her paintings aim to document passionate, romantic love and allow the audience a glimpse into intimate moments of love and desire. Painting for her is an intimate act that requires consistent devotion and commitment; it is through painting that she returns her love back into the world.