FINDING SPACE::

08/09 - 09/06

ORGANIZED/CURATED BY

KARA WEST

These days we talk a lot about unplugging from social media, and the statistics support what we know: that we are over-attached to our technology. On the flip side, technology has some wonderful benefits. Case in point, visual artists are using social platforms to share their process and their work with audiences no longer challenged by proximity.  

In Finding Space, guest curator Kara West is selecting four San Diego artists that use social media to share their process, to connect with their audiences, to grow creative relationships, and to sell their artwork. Each of the four artists in turn are selecting two additional artists doing the same.

Artist: Laurie Nasica

Bio: Laurie is a French-born and raised painter based in San Diego, California. She grew up in Southern France, fascinated by various forms of craftsmanship and utilitarian art surrounding her. Evolving in a society where artisanal labor is devalued and replaced by machines, Laurie sees beauty in the slow and laborious process of crafting things by hand, however wonky the outcome might be. Through her work, she is hoping to show that refusing to take shortcuts and choosing the longer path allows for more introspective time to examine and connect with one’s thoughts and feelings.

Instagram: @Laurie Nasica

Website: https://www.laurienasica.com/ 

Artist: CATAPHANT

Bio: CATAPHANT is a fine artist and designer based out of San Diego whose work explores emotional mechanisms and how they are felt in the body. She graduated from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2011 and went on to build a career in art education while working heavily in music production. In 2017, CATAPHANT decided to switch to visual art full time and makes a living selling her products online, handling art direction for musicians, and showing work in several US cities.

Instagram: @Cataphant

Website: https://www.cataphantmakes.com/

Artist: Bradford Lynn

Bio: Through forms of deep introspection true escape can be reached; An indescribable transition from physical to non-physical realms. In his latest works, Bradford Lynn illustrates the imaginative and unseen world we all might see when we close our eyes.

Working as a full-time and freelance Artist. Graduated in 2012 from Art Center College Of Design with a BFA in Illustration.

Instagram: @bradfordlynn

Website: http://bradfordlynn.com/ 

Artist: Cheryl Sorg

Bio: Cheryl Sorg lives in Encinitas - a small, chill surf town (though she is a distinctly not-chill city girl). Her work has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions around the US and her portals are equally in their element whether install at a skatepark, streetscape, or gallery. 

 Instagram: @cherylsorg

Website: http://www.cherylsorg.com

Artist: Jenessa Goodman

Bio: Jenessa Goodman is a NYC ex-pat who relocated to Encinitas, California in 2011. Though she was born in San Diego and raised in California and New Mexico, her many years of traveling and living in a wide variety of locales has colored the lens through which she views life today. Jenessa's artwork is an intelligent, thoughtful and emotionally sophisticated exploration of contemporary art. She delves deep into the pattern language of nature, seeking visual rhythms and elegant shapes. Her striking imagery highlights the abstract in nature, and the esoteric within the familiar.

Instagram: @jenessagoodman

Website: jenessagoodman.com

Artist: Ricardo Ales

Bio: Ricardo Ales is a Southern California based artist, currently obsessing over graphite, ink, and squiggly primary colors. His work is and has always been a rumination on the human experience and the rollercoaster that it tends to be.

Instagram: @ricardoalesart

Website: https://ricardoales.bigcartel.com/ 

Artist: Fifi Martinez

Bio: Fifi Martinez is a cartoonist, painter, and animator from San Diego, California. She creates autobiographical work that ranges from abstracted scribbles to fully illustrated comics about her everyday life.

Instagram: @baby_misery

Website: www.patreon.com/fifimartinez  

Artist: Jenessa Goodman

enessa Goodman is a NYC ex-pat who relocated to Encinitas, California in 2011. Though she was born in San Diego and raised in California and New Mexico, her many years of traveling and living in a wide variety of locales has colored the lens through which she views life today. Jenessa's artwork is an intelligent, thoughtful and emotionally sophisticated exploration of contemporary art. She delves deep into the pattern language of nature, seeking visual rhythms and elegant shapes. Her striking imagery highlights the abstract in nature, and the esoteric within the familiar.

Born in 1979, Jenessa attended The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from The San Francisco Art Institute. She earned her Masters degree in Counseling Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute. Jenessa is also the founder of the Peace Poster Project, an art-based fundraising effort for charitable causes.

Instagram: @jenessagoodman

Website: http://www.jenessagoodman.com/

Artist: Michelle Jean

Bio: Self taught, Michelle is constantly learning, and draws her inspiration from all that surrounds her, both the spectacular and the quiet beauty in the mundane. She believes it’s possible to find inspiration anywhere, and to allow the universe to utilize you as a conduit by which to express itself. With this philosophy in mind, Michelle doesn’t overthink her art, but rather allows it to flow naturally and intuitively, to achieve an expression of feeling. 

Instagram: @michellejeanstudio

Website: https://michellejeanstudio.com/