Flavorpill Issue #106

Visual Arts: Previews

Carol Es, Hybrids and Mongrels, Highways, Santa Monica, Ca.

March 7, 2005

Carol Es: Hybrids and Mongrels

When the munchkin asked Dorothy, "Are you a good witch or a bad witch?" he didn't mean any offense. It's just that he'd never met a tall woman who wasn't a witch. Questions of type and heredity are the bread and butter of LA artist Carol Es, whose new series of mixed media works explores how heredity shapes individual identity. Inspired by 19th century Austrian monk Gregor Mendel's early experiments with plants, Es uses such alternative materials as antique textiles to create semi-abstract patterns and landscapes on canvas. These curiously nostalgic works evoke both the eccentricities of personal history and the certainty of genetics.

-Shana Nys Dambrot