Carol Es, contemporary, self-taught artist, Los Angeles, specializing in garment patterns and oil paintings with embroidery.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
The Center for Educational Development & Research presents:
Bioillogical
works by
Carol Es
PRESS from the HUFFINGTON POST
January 9 - March 7, 2012
Artists Reception
Wednesday, January 25, 4:30 - 7:00 PM
Learning Resource Center, UCLA
700 Westwood Plaza
Los Angeles, CA 90095
For more information contact:Ted Meyer - ted@artandmed.com or tel. (323) 227-8836
Los Angeles, CA - Art can capture a multitude of meanings and help us see the world in different ways, including a way to understand those with illness. The Center for Educational Development and Research at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA will be sponsoring a rotating series of shows in our new medical education building, the Learning Resource Center, curated by Artist in Residence, Ted Meyer.
Our next show features Los Angeles artist Carol Es who’s work takes a creative approach to her personal experience with Lupus and Multiple Sclerosis.
A r t i s t S t a t e m e n t
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"I became fascinated with biology when I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2000. I wanted to learn how the disease affected the central nervous system and how the myelin was damaged inside the body. Then, in 2004, I was also diagnosed with Lupus, which pulled up images of what my anti-nuclear antibody titers looked like in my blood tests.
"Being an artist, I began to see these images as visionary compositions I could use in my work. Because I mainly use garment patterns and textiles in my art, I decided to combine the two subjects and this resulted into a vast collection of both relevant and illogical experiments. Some pieces are clearly illustrative of disease, while others took quite an imaginative turn.
"Four years ago, I was also diagnosed with Bipolar disorder. Believe it or not, this was a harder pill to swallow than both physical ailments combined. I grew up with a mother who was severely Bipolar back when SSRIs were not yet invented. I witnessed her struggles and constant, intense cycling of mania and depression – her many visits in and out of psychiatric wards and medications that did very little for her. It was probably the biggest fear in my life to receive the same diagnosis, but here it was. One of my paintings in this show is about my mother’s struggles with Bipolar and inheriting this debilitating mental illness.
"Thanks to the advances in medicine, I am doing well. My physical and mental burdens are well managed. This is because I have great doctors that know what they are doing and are familiar with the medications they prescribe. They also keep a close watch over me, are personable and truly care about my well being. It took me many years to find doctors like these.
"I use garment patterns because I grew up as a pattern cutter alongside my brother in my father’s company in downtown Los Angeles in the apparel manufacturing trade. Since I am a self-taught artist, I decided to create artwork with what I knew best, so I incorporate the materials from the pattern-making trade into my work. I often use embroidery, sewing pins, master patterns, stitching, textiles, and a kind of personal narrative in the art to interweave a connection between myself and the viewer.
"I hope the viewer will enjoy the handmade, crafted aspect of my work, and the imagination that goes into every piece. I aim to bring a smile, and hopefully some laughter, to my viewers."
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Carol Es is a self-taught Los Angeles artist born in 1968. Her artistic nature was formed early, drawing cartoons beneath tables in bowling alleys. She attended school infrequently, instead working as a pattern cutter in the apparel industry with her family. Her work is fueled by childhood, family dysfunction, and memory. Personal experiences are laid bare and forged directly into the work through an amalgamation of oil paint, paper garment patterns, sewing pins, pencil, thread, text and prose. A dark, yet childlike humor interweaves throughout her paintings, drawings, installations, and books.
Carol’s works are featured in numerous private and public collections, including the Getty Museum, Brooklyn Museum, UCLA Special Collections, the Jaffe Collection, and Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris. She has exhibited at the Riverside Art Museum, Torrance Art Museum, Santa Monica Museum of Art, the Craft & Folk Art Museum, and Zimmer Children's Museum. She is also a two-time recipient of the ARC Grant from the Durfee Foundation and was recently awarded the prestigious Pollock-Krasner Fellowship. She is represented by Koelsch Gallery in Houston, Texas; Tinney Contemporary in Nashville, Tennessee; and George Billis Gallery in Los Angeles, California.