Kara Joslyn

Currently pursuing an MFA from UC San Diego’s visual arts department, Kara Joslyn’s work consists of paintings done with airbrush on panel using acrylic and polymer-based car paint. Inspired by pre-computer design and illustration techniques, Joslyn paints without ever touching the surface with more than air-pressure from her airbrush gun. Geometric abstraction is also influential in the painter’s work, which often explores optical illusion, trompe l’oeil, and holograms.



Kara Joslyn received a BFA from California College for the Arts, San Francisco (2008), completed post-baccalaureate studies in Painting at Columbia University, NYC (2011), and is a current MFA candidate at University of California San Diego (2016). Recent exhibitions include Land and Sea in Oakland, Structural & Materials Engineering Gallery at UC San Diego, Greenpoint Terminal Gallery in New York, Sala Chillida, Bizkaia Aretoa Universidad del Pais Vasco in Spain, S.H.E.D. Projects in Oakland, and Alternativa Oncé in Monterrey, Mexico. Joslyn received the Russell Foundation Grant for her work with Holography, is a nominee for the Dedalus Robert Motherwell Foundation MFA Fellowship in Painting and Sculpture, and is the recipient of the Summer Graduate Teaching Scholars Award.