Working in a wide range of sculptures and mixed media wall art, artist Kate Carvellas uses found objects to create art that hums with energy, color, and fun. It’s both poetic and edgily whimsical, it tells stories that resonate and sing with substance, history, and the simple joy of creating “something” significant from “nothing” much.
In this exhibition, which closes July 27th at SoLA Gallery in South LA, the forms she shapes – whether sculptural or in her vibrant montages of found materials – are filled with energy. There is a real sensibility at work here, offering images that, as the title of this piece below suggests, serve simply and profoundly as an “Ode to Joy.”
Curated by SoLA gallerist Peggy Sivert Zask, each of the artist’s works were created within the last year, with many being shown for the first time.
Many of the pieces use objects Carvellas finds on the ground, at yard sales, in thrift stores and flea markets.
Connecting these disparate elements she creates sculptural forms from them, revitalizing them and reimagining their contexts. She combines these objects with painted work, forming dimensional wall art and sculptures that pull the viewer into a completely new and wonderfully startling visual landscape. The free-standing sculptural works displayed here are equally filled with a compelling worldview. There is an element of the fantastical, of having fallen down a delightful rabbit hole into another dimension – one where art itself is theatrical, fun, and spontaneous.
Not that these works aren’t carefully and masterfully shaped, but they have a feel of having risen fully formed from the artist’s rich imagination. Calling her work “both intuitive and material based,” Carvellas says she loves using materials that are unexpected, “especially objects that others might consider unusable, and by incorporating them in my work, I elevate them from their original state, giving them new life and meaning.”
The pieces feel alive, and exciting, almost as if Carevllas has has literally as well as figuratively brought them to life. The works evoke both modern sculptural form and folk art, steam punk and fairy tales. In short, they are truly and honestly entertaining, fascinating, and open-hearted. The works are generous, giving both beauty, visual wit – she offers a play on objects, rather than a play on words; and a redemptive look at how the everyday object can be in a certain artist’s eye, profound, and stimulatingly surreal.
Come take a look at this richly rewarding exhibition in its closing moments, July 27th starting at 2 p.m. at SoLA Gallery, located at 3718 Slauson Ave.
And, in the front gallery, be sure to take in the Pulse of LA 2019, the second annual juried exhibit showcasing the work of Los Angeles women artists, juried by Holly Tempo, offers a look at a wide range of works from paintings to photography.
- Genie Davis; photos: Genie Davis, Kate Carvellas
