Karin Gulbran: The Pink Pepper Tree at Parker Gallery, Los Angeles

Exhibition

Karin Gulbran: The Pink Pepper Tree is on view at Parker Gallery, Los Angeles April 26 – June 14, 2025. Parker Gallery presents its first solo exhibition of the Los Angeles-based artist Karin Gulbran, marking the first exhibition of her work in Los Angeles in ten years.

About the work

Gulbran's ceramic sculptures comprise a variety of repeated forms, including animal pots, fishbowls, pelican vases, singing birds, budding branch vessels and obscure mirrors. These forms feature repeated decorative motifs such as rain, stars, branches, flowers, and coffee bean leaves. The presentation highlights a full range of forms and motifs alongside her first publicly exhibited painting in twenty-five years.

Inspiration

During renovations of the gallery, Gulbran was inspired by the Brazilian pink pepper tree sweeping low to the ground and rising into two magnificent trunks protruding through the gallery deck. A 1963 painting by California artist Jess, titled Moonset at Sunrise, became another important touchstone. The morning after encountering the tree, Gulbran witnessed a crescent moon setting as the sun came up, inspiring her to create Moonset at Sunrise after Jess (2025) at twice the original scale, returning to her roots as a painter.

Contact

• [email protected]
• Parker Gallery, 6700 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90038