About Ayin Es, Los Angeles Contemporary Abstract Artist

A Los Angeles native, Ayin Es grew up quickly, working in the family's apparel business from a young age, but left an abusive home life at age fifteen and worked as a musician (a drummer). They practiced painting and drawing while pursuing a life in both art and music for many years.

By age thrity, Ayin was struck with physical and mental disabilities which made them leave their professional music career behind. They've since dedicated themselves fully to their art and have become known for having a distinct voice in painting by using various media, such as oils, watercolor, and gouache, and at times incorporating paper, textiles, and embroidering. They also work in installation, video, and create Artist's books. The prominent collections of the Getty, Brooklyn Museum, National Museum of Women in the Arts, and multiple universities have acquired their handmade editions.

A natural storyteller, Ayin's unique artwork has been exhibited in major galleries, museums, and universities nationwide. Their paintings reside in numerous private collections, as well as public places of healing, like the UC San Francisco Precision Cancer Center, Cedar-Sinai Medical Center, and LAC+USC Medical Center. The work is candid and personal, with a vulnerability that viewers find alluring.

Ayin is a two-time recipient of the ARC Grant from the Durfee Foundation and the National Arts and Disability Center/California Arts Council. They've also won a Pollock-Krasner Fellowship, the Wynn Newhouse Award, and the Bruce Geller Memorial Award from the American Jewish University. They were recently given the NADC Artist Achievement Award from the National Arts and Disability Center. Review publications include Artillery, LA Times, ArtScene, LA WEEKLY, ArtNowLA, ArtLTD, Art&Cake, and WhiteHot Magazine.

Now living in the California high desert, two hours east of Los Angeles proper, Ayin enjoys their life in Joshua Tree with their partner of twenty-four years. Ayin identifies as transqueer and nonbinary and is happy to be living as their authentic self.