Pakayla Rae Biehn – Sour Harvest

Opening night pics and digital preview links for ‘Being There’ and ‘Ghost of a Chance’

(l-r) Pakayla Rae Biehn, Jeff Ramirez, and Kevin Titzer

Thank you to everyone that came out last weekend for the opening of our new exhibitions featuring works from Pakayla Rae Biehn, Jeff Ramirez, Kevin Titzer, and David Cooley. There was a great energy in the air and all the artists work really played nicely off each other with many patrons jokingly referencing the OCD nature of all the works on view and if that played into this month’s curation. Each featured artist’s craft is unique and each intensely intricate in their own special ways, showcasing the almost unfathomable amount of time and focus needed to create each.

Main gallery view of 'Being There' from Pakayla Rae Biehn and Jeff Ramirez

‘Being There’
New oil paintings from Pakayla Rae Biehn and Jeff Ramirez
On view through Fri, June 3rd

Check out the works in ‘Being There‘ via our digital show catalog here:
www.thinkspacegallery.com/2011/05/works.php

The work of Kevin Titzer in our project room

Kevin Titzer
‘Ghost Of A Chance’
On view through June 11th in our project room

Check out the works in ‘Ghost of a Chance‘ via our digital show catalog here:
www.thinkspacegallery.com/2011/05/project/works.php

The work of David Cooley on view in our office

New works from David Cooley
On view through June 11th in our office area

Check out the new works from Cooley via our digital show catalog here:
www.thinkspacegallery.com/2011/04a/project2/works.php

Thinkspace / 6009 Washington Blvd. in Culver City, CA / www.thinkspacegallery.com

Erratic Phenomena interview Pakayla Rae Biehn

“I was diagnosed with strabismus at birth. One of my eyes was severely crossed, causing a lot of strain on the eye’s muscles. I did have three corrective surgeries quite young, all before 4 years old, I think. I wasn’t a recluse or outsider, but I tended to move in between different social circles. I really vibe of off people’s energies, so it’s important for me to maintain a heavy rotation of friends.

Deciphering how isolation affected my adolescence is hard, because there are a couple metaphors I can pull from it, and a lot of things I haven’t really processed yet. Physically, I have always had a very literal barrier between others and myself with my glasses, and I think that warped my sense of dependency. I’ve always been violently independent, and that’s been fairly consistent my whole life. I’ve been brought up to believe that the only one you can rely on is yourself, which sounds like a simple enough piece of advice, but is really hard to completely comprehend. It’s something that I should have applied earlier on in life, but I only realized it in hindsight. Everything I’ve done in the last couple years has blossomed from my truest application of self-reliance and my lust to live the unlikely life.” – Pakayla Rae Biehn

Check out Erratic Phenomena’s full interview with Pakayla here:
www.erraticphenomena.com/2011/05/pakayla-biehns-unlikely-perspective.html

‘Being There’
New oil paintings from Pakayla Rae Biehn and Jeff Ramirez
On view May 21st – June 3rd

Reception with the artists:
Sat, May 21st 6-8PM

Thinkspace / 6009 Washington Blvd. in Culver City, CA / www.thinkspacegallery.com

My Love For You studio visit with Pakayla Rae Biehn

The press love for our upcoming show ‘Being There’ featuring Pakayla Rae Biehn and Jeff Ramirez continues with today’s post from one of my favorite blogs, My Love For You. Meighan got a chance to swing by Pakayla’s studio before she drove down to LA this past weekend and was cool enough to share her visit with all of us.

“Once I stood back and took her work in – it was mindblowing to see the many layers that appear suddenly. They literally transform before your eyes, playing tricks as you focus all the while remaining utterly breathtaking.” – My Love For You

Check out My Love For You’s studio visit with Pakayla Rae Biehn here:
http://myloveforyou.typepad.com/my_love_for_you/2011/05/studio-visit-pakayla-rae-biehn.html

‘Being There’
New oil paintings from Pakayla Rae Biehn and Jeff Ramirez
On view May 21st – June 3rd

Reception with the artists:
Sat, May 21st 6-8PM

Thinkspace / 6009 Washington Blvd. in Culver City, CA / www.thinkspacegallery.com
*above images courtesy of My Love For You

Flavorwire showcase the work of Pakayla Rae Biehn

One of Pakayla Rae Biehn's new oil paintings for "Being There"

“Pakayla Biehn’s beautiful paintings are delicate confections of dreams and spun sugar, her subjects swathed in petals or soft cloth, her signature double exposure effect lending a gentle sense of unreality. The double exposure effect, usually limited to photographic work, for obvious reasons, shows her mastery at deciphering the space in which she places her subjects and sheds light on the way they relate to one another.” – Flavorwire.com

Check out Flavorwire’s full feature on Pakayla’s work here:
http://flavorwire.com/177869/photo-gallery-pakayla-biehns-dreamy-double-exposure-paintings

Check out another recent interview with Pakayla on My Modern Met here:
www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/photorealistic-double-exposure

And another recent one here:
http://greasefirecfc.com/?p=53

Pakayla at work in her studio up in the Bay Area

‘Being There’ will feature eight new oil paintings on canvas from Pakayla and we’ll also be showcasing her “lens curtain” as well as her collection of corrective eyewear from over the years due to suffering from Strabismus.

In Pakayla’s own words she describes Strabismus:
“My paintings are based on the side effects I encounter from this condition. The simplest explanation of my disease is that the muscles in my eyes do not communicate with the other and each eye struggles for dominance. I can not focus both my eyes on a single point in space at the same time and this fight between them is what causes double vision.”

To help share her perception of the world Pakayla often takes her own source photographs and then manipulates a ‘double exposure’ image in photo shop and uses that as a reference for her final oil painting. All this while suffering from the above mentioned site condition is just a wee bit mind blowing if you ask me.