May 13 — June 17, 2023
Sea Patterns
Carrie Marill
Conduit Gallery is honored to announce, Sea Patterns, a solo exhibition of paintings by Solana-beach based artist Carrie Marill.
Carrie Marill’s artistic inspiration has drawn from a vast body of sources - folk art quilts, Persian miniatures, propaganda posters and industrial design. All considerations unified by her keen awareness of pattern, both human-made and from the natural world. After relocating from the desert of Arizona to the beaches of San Diego in 2020, Marill became entrenched in the visuals of the ocean that surround her. An avid surfer, Marill's newest paintings honor the Southern California coast and the creatures that share the location with her. Each of the four large-scale paintings features monochromatic pattern based compositions of life near the ocean, surfboards, sea shells, sea birds, fish sit alongside a series of smaller icon paintings that venerate the birds that inhabit the area, seagulls, ospreys, cormorants.
Writes Marill of the work, “ I am drawn to the Ocean. Sea is my church. She is my respite. I am transfixed by what I see as I glide along the surface of the water and the living life below. Wildlife has always caught my eye, watching the behaviors and patterns of these creatures fascinates me.
The marking and colors of birds and wildlife are cornerstones to my way of seeing pattern in the world. When I am floating out in the water, I am in their world, and I have deep respect for that world and wildlife’s place in the eco-system. I am using my ‘folk pattern aesthetic’ to elevate and recognize their presence and profound existence in our lives.”
Marill ( b. 1976) graduated from San Francisco State University in 2002 with a BA in Painting and received an MFA in Painting from Cornell University in 2004. Her artwork has been exhibited throughout the United States in California, New York, Seattle, Miami, Dallas, and Arizona. Marill's work has been published in New American Paintings, Wired Magazine, Southwest Art, The New Times, The Wall Street Journal, Modern Painters, LA Weekly, and the LA Times. Her work is in the collection of Todd Oldham, Missoni, Disney, Tiffany’s, The Hallmark Collection, and many other exciting collectors.
In addition to displaying her work at galleries and institutions internationally, Marill’s practice includes developing large-scale outdoor murals for public and private clients. She also designs and creates jewelry, prints, clothing, and accessories for her lifestyle business called Punkwasp allowing her to share her aesthetic and artistic vision with a wider audience.