Calvin Ross Carl is an artist and designer, born in Spokane, WA. He now works in Portland, OR, where he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Intermedia in 2008 from Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA). Calvin Ross Carl’s paintings and objects focus on the contradiction of two polar opposites. One pole is infatuated with the authoritative and potentially inhuman characteristics of flat geometry. The other pole seeks comfort through the appropriation of humble images and materials from the American home and work environment.
Striking balance between those disparate intellectual and emotional forces is central to the process. Handmade imperfections are embraced and begin to imply monotony rather than grace and opticality. This brings levity to highly designed, geometric forms, blurring the edges between lower class and something more refined.
Text and images © Calvin Ross Carl
