Skip to content

Carla Jay Harris

Back
Carla Jay Harris - Artists - Luis De Jesus Los Angeles

Born in Indianapolis, IN, and raised traveling the globe as the child of a military officer, Carla Jay Harris’s social and artistic development was impacted tremendously by the geopolitical and natural environments she encountered. She fervently believes that space (physical and physiological) has a fundamental, lasting impact on personal identity. While the environment around us is constantly evolving, photography has the power to capture humanity in a place, in a moment, transforming a flicker in time into a lasting, appreciable statement. Carla's work has been exhibited nationally and internationally in New York, Los Angeles, Washington DC, Miami, New Orleans, Las Vegas, Paris, and Quebec. She completed undergraduate coursework at the School of Visual Arts in New York, received her bachelor's degree with distinction from the University of Virginia, and her MFA from UCLA in 2015. She currently lives and works in Los Angeles, CA. Her works are included in the collections of the Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA; USC’s Fisher Museum; The California African American Museum, Los Angeles, CA; Escalette Permanent Collection of Art at Chapman University, Orange, CA; The Museum of Art and History, Lancaster, CA; The Museum of Fine Arts, Sherbrook, Quebec, Canada; John Hopkins University Law School, Baltimore, MD; as well as the corporate collections of General Mills; Creative Artists Agency; META (Facebook) Inc, and LA Metro. She is represented by Luis De Jesus Los Angeles.

Download CV

Celestial Bodies

Slideshow Thumbnails Back to Series

Celestial Bodies draws inspiration from Harris's experience as a “third culture kid.” Harris spent a significant part of her youth living outside the United States—primarily in Italy and Germany. According to the artist, “this was a surreal experience that permanently shifted my perception of belonging.” Othered by race, language, culture, and nationality, she was drawn to mythology which has become central to her work. Throughout history, mythology has served humankind's desire to understand its surroundings, nature, and society. Through myth-making Harris taps into a sense of belonging that extends from notions of kinship to universal cultural concerns and narratives.

Carla Jay Harris, Sphinx, 2018, photography and digital painting on paper, 40 x 60 in. (40 x 30 in each)

Back To Top