Concurrently on view in the Project Room, Thinkspace presents Illuso, featuring new works by acclaimed illustrator and artist Karla Ortiz.

Ortiz’s graphite drawings, and consummately executed oil paintings, combine the Pre-Raphaelites of 19th century with a contemporary sensibility and surrealist aesthetic all the artist’s own.

A historical aura of timelessness haunts these beautifully rendered works. Dark and radiant, they feel powerfully symbolic and dense with the enigmatic. The artist’s perfection of shadow and light, alongside her incredibly accomplished and poignant figuration, contribute to a body of work that attests to the lingering fascinations of the 19th century legacy, and its continued aesthetic relevance in new contemporary visual culture.