Collection: "Chimerical" - a solo show by Karla Ortiz

Chimerical - a solo show by Karla Ortiz

Opening Night Reception: Thursday, August 4th (6-10PM)

On View: August 4th - August 27th, 2016

Spoke Art is pleased to present Chimerical, a debut solo exhibition by San Francisco based artist Karla Ortiz. An unearthly display of new illustrations and paintings, Ortiz’s mystic figures are draped in delicately rendered robes, a brooding darkness and mystery. Steeped in their own lore, each work extends an invitation into the artist’s whimsical yet ghostly fantasy world.

A natural (and professional) storyteller, Karla Ortiz draws from her years as a concept artist in the gaming and film industries. Ortiz sites the Brothers Grimm and other mythological stories as influences when creating narratives for her haunting work. For her debut solo exhibition, Ortiz has created a collection of oil paintings on panel and graphite drawings on paper, each piece displaying the “the mythical and odd nature" signature to her work.

Ortiz’s fine art works offer a different perspective from the artist, including robed and draped figures reminiscent of Roman marble sculpture, brooding dandies and mystical tribeswomen. Each character is at once vulnerable and powerful with a sense of withheld knowledge and a dark force. Inhabiting ethereal forests, antique interiors and other worldly spaces her subjects invite the viewer into their intimate and ghostly landscapes. Imbuing her figures with a sense of melancholy, each one emotes a quiet sense of defiance.

Ortiz is visually influenced by prolific figurative painters John Singer Sargent, Anders Zorn, and Norman Rockwell. Victorian aesthetics, cinematic framing, pre-Raphaelite painters and artists from the Golden Age of Illustration also figure prominently in Ortiz’s influences that contribute to her mastery of light and drafting. Her work is painstakingly detailed while preserving the motion and texture of her mark-making. Ortiz’s richly detailed, illustrative works are also influenced by mythology and folklore.

Ortiz has been a concept artist and illustrator on projects for Ubisoft, NCSoft, Wizards of the Coast, Ace Books and Marvel Film Studios. She has worked on characters from the fantasy card game Magic the Gathering, acclaimed fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin, World of Warcraft, the Marvel universe and beyond. Working in both digital and traditional media, Ortiz brings these vastly detailed fantasy worlds to life in her professional and personal fine art work.

 

  • "Ultimum" - Spoke Art "Ultimum" - Spoke Art
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    Karla Ortiz
    Regular price $5,000.00
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  • A bearded man sits on a red velvet couch in dim lighting, leaning forward in a white shirt and dark vest. His contemplative expression suggests hes pondering the themes of Rigidum by Karla Ortiz, immersed in introspection. The framed painting by Karla Ortiz shows a bearded man on a red velvet couch, dressed in a white shirt and black vest, with the dark background highlighting the couchs rich hue, reminiscent of her solo exhibition style.
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    Karla Ortiz
    Regular price $3,750.00
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  • "Retrato 2" - Spoke Art "Retrato 2" - Spoke Art
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    Karla Ortiz
    Regular price $800.00
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  • "Retrato" - Spoke Art "Retrato" - Spoke Art
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    Karla Ortiz
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  • Charcoal drawing by Karla Ortiz: A woman with long hair in a sleeveless dress and necklace stands against a dark background for the La Fae exhibition, eyes slightly upward. Signed in the bottom right corner. A dark wood-framed black and white portrait of a woman in a dress from the Chimerical exhibition by Karla Ortiz is displayed on a white wall.
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    Karla Ortiz
    Regular price $930.00
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  • "Segundo Pasado" - Spoke Art
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    Karla Ortiz
    Regular price $800.00
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  • "I Nature" - Spoke Art "I Nature" - Spoke Art
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    Karla Ortiz
    Regular price $700.00
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  • The portrait, styled in black-and-white like Karla Ortizs work, features a bearded person with a bun. Wearing a white shirt and suspenders, they gaze upward as light illuminates their face against the dark background, reminiscent of an evocative graphite on paper exhibition piece by Karla Ortiz. A black-and-white photo, echoing Karla Ortizs style, shows a person in profile gazing upward. This thoughtful image is framed in black with a white matte, reminiscent of graphite depth, and elegantly presented on a white wall.
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    Karla Ortiz
    Regular price $700.00
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  • "III Thought and Choice" - Spoke Art "III Thought and Choice" - Spoke Art
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    Karla Ortiz
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  • Karla Ortizs sepia-toned portrait features a side profile of a person in a flowing, hooded garment with floral details, set against a softly blurred natural backdrop, echoing La Curas ethereal themes. La Cura by Karla Ortiz is a black-and-white graphite on paper artwork in an ornate black frame. It features a person in a white headscarf and robe, gazing right, exuding an ethereal quality with soft lighting and blurred background details.
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    Karla Ortiz
    Regular price $900.00
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  • "The Death I Bring" - Spoke Art "The Death I Bring" - Spoke Art
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    Karla Ortiz
    Regular price $1,130.00
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  • A Karla Ortiz ink and graphite sketch shows a person in flowing garments with a floral headpiece holding a skull. The artwork, mounted on the wall with clips, includes a small red dot on the lower right side. Six pencil sketches by Karla Ortiz are displayed on a white wall in two rows, featuring stylized animals and human figures with a mix of realism and imagination. Each piece uses ink and graphite for depth, held up by two metal clips.
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    Karla Ortiz
    Regular price $100.00
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  • Karla Ortiz - "Los Bocetos 2" - Spoke Art Karla Ortiz - "Los Bocetos 2" - Spoke Art
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    Karla Ortiz
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  • Karla Ortiz - "Los Bocetos 3" - Spoke Art The gallery wall showcases Los Bocetos 3, a Karla Ortiz collection. Featuring six ink and graphite pencil sketches of people and animals, they are arranged in two rows of three, exuding minimalistic elegance.
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    Karla Ortiz
    Regular price $100.00
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  • Karla Ortiz - "Los Bocetos 4" - Spoke Art Karla Ortiz - "Los Bocetos 4" - Spoke Art
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    Karla Ortiz
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  • Los Bocetos 5 by Karla Ortiz is an ink and graphite sketch on paper, depicting a person with closed eyes and a serene expression, resting their chin on their hand. It hangs elegantly from metal clips on a pristine white wall. Six pencil sketches from Karla Ortizs Los Bocetos 5 series, featuring human figures and an animal in ink and graphite, hang on a white wall in two rows. Each is secured with small clips.
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    Karla Ortiz
    Regular price $100.00
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  • Karla Ortiz - "Los Bocetos 6" - Spoke Art Karla Ortiz - "Los Bocetos 6" - Spoke Art
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    Karla Ortiz
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  • Ink and graphite sketch of two deer with large ears, one slightly taller, inside a rounded square; a circle behind them evokes Los Bocetos 7. Displayed on the wall in Karla Ortiz style. Six pencil sketches, reflecting Karla Ortizs artistry, are showcased on a white wall. Part of the Los Bocetos 7 series, these minimalistic ink and graphite drawings of figures and a rabbit hang with clips, emphasizing outline and form.
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    Vendor:
    Karla Ortiz
    Regular price $100.00
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  • Karla Ortiz - "Los Bocetos 8" - Spoke Art Karla Ortiz - "Los Bocetos 8" - Spoke Art
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    Karla Ortiz
    Regular price $100.00
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  • A pencil drawing of a person in a flat cap and jacket, clipped to a wall. Made with ink and graphite, it’s signed ORTIZ 16 in the lower right corner and is from Karla Ortizs Los Bocetos 9 series. Six line drawings from Karla Ortizs Los Bocetos 9 series are displayed on a white wall. Created with ink and graphite, each abstract figure and possible hare pose is clipped with metal clips.
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    Vendor:
    Karla Ortiz
    Regular price $100.00
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  • Karla Ortiz - "Los Bocetos 10" - Spoke Art Karla Ortiz - "Los Bocetos 10" - Spoke Art
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    Karla Ortiz
    Regular price $100.00
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  • A signed sketch from the Los Bocetos 11 series by Karla Ortiz, clipped to a white wall, depicts a leaping hare. The ink and graphite drawing highlights the hares detailed elongated ears and muscular form, capturing motion. Karla Ortiz - "Los Bocetos 11" - Spoke Art
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    Karla Ortiz
    Regular price $100.00
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  • Karla Ortiz - "Los Bocetos 12" - Spoke Art Karla Ortiz - "Los Bocetos 12" - Spoke Art
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    Karla Ortiz
    Regular price $100.00
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