On the Mend

Ayin Es presents their solo exhibition, On the Mend. This collection reflects Ayin's journey of healing from abuse, disability, top surgery, and mental illness while navigating their identity as transqueer. Many of their paintings feature Dan, a dog-like creature whose name is an anagram of a ‘Non-Descript Animal,’ and whose presence evokes comfort and companionship and variously coincides with upside-down rainbows, flowers, or sweets. Other works feature self-portraiture, shapes, or patchworks of garment patterns, referring to Ayin’s family’s patternmaking business in Los Angeles. In self-portraits, a heavy stitch across the chest is a post-transition timestamp and a symbol of the wound from which Ayin has worked to heal. Ayin says, “I wanted to demonstrate various concepts of ‘healing systems’ as I see them. Embarking upon this creative process served as an existential self-reflection, and in my own lighthearted way, it is my foray into reconciling my afflictions and a playful testament to remaining a survivor.”

A two-time recipient of ARC Grants from the Durfee Foundation, they also won a Pollock-Krasner Fellowship, the Wynn Newhouse Award, the Bruce Geller Memorial Award from the American Jewish University, and an Artist Achievement Award from the National Arts & Disability Center/UCLA. Widely collected, their works reside in many predominant collections and museums such as the Getty, Brooklyn Museum, and National Museum of Women in the Arts.