Group Show at the Kleefeld Contemporary Museum

Aura Herrera

Born 1997 in Los Angeles, CA
Tierra del Sol artist since 2019

Aura Herrera, born in 1997 in Los Angeles, is a Sun-Valley-based artist who has been making art at Tierra del Sol’s studios since 2019. Easily shifting between painting and ceramic processes, Herrera explores themes of beauty, mortality, and representation through dynamic portraiture. The whimsical forms of superheroes, fairies, animals, aliens, and mythological figures are recurring subjects for the artist, who favors jovial color palettes and cheerful expressions. Herrera is devoted to her practice, tirelessly sculpting and naming each character with tender reverence. In her most recent body of work, Herrera has turned her attention to portraits of beautiful women, exploring complex visions of societal standards by sourcing inspiration from popular culture, folklore, art history, and women in her own life. Outside her fine art practice, Herrera enjoys creative writing, poetry, and making comics.

Aura Herrera’s works have been exhibited extensively in group exhibitions at Tierra del Sol Gallery in Los Angeles, CA.

Ericka Lopez

Born 1987 in Mexico
Tierra del Sol artist since 2019

Ericka Lopez is blind and creates intricate, tactile work in both textiles and ceramics. Her fiber sculptures are stitched using threads, buttons, beads, fabric scraps, and found objects. Her proficiency with familiar hand-building techniques in clay, including coil and slab, enable Lopez to create large-scale vessels which are distinctive, dynamic, and beautifully structured. Lopez hopes her works can be experienced through an exploration of touch.

Ericka Lopez has exhibited her artwork at Laband Gallery and Tierra del Sol Gallery in Los Angeles, CA. Lopez’s debut solo exhibition “Continuous Touch” was curated by jill moniz for Tierra del Sol Gallery in Spring of 2023. She has had works acquired by notable private collections such as that of Beth DeWoody, as well as by the Kleefeld Contemporary Art Museum at UC Long Beach.

John Maull

Born in 1952 in Los Angeles, CA
Tierra del Sol artist since 2005

John Maull is known for his vivid landscapes in ballpoint pen, colored pencil, and paint. In his youth, the artist would spend hours working with his mother in their hillside garden, those closest to Maull believe these memories serve as the primary inspiration for his prolific body of work. Maull’s abstract language reveals a practice that tunes the viewer into his passion for nature and his joy of making. Like Monet’s Chrysanthemums and other dense flora portraits that fill the canvas, Maull captures the timelessness and sense of connection that artists have with the creative processes of the natural world. A man of few words, Maull’s enigmatic text, numbers, and symbols are interwoven throughout his art, reminiscent of ancient, illegible runes whose meaning is lost except to those who inscribed them. Powerful and lush, Maull’s chromatic compositions capture the simultaneous harmony and chaos of our environment, distilling that experience to its most essential.

John Maull’s debut solo exhibition took place at Tierra del Sol Gallery in Chinatown, Los Angeles in 2020. Maull’s works have been extensively exhibited in group exhibitions throughout the U.S. and Canada at Galerie C.O.A in Montreal, Quebec, the Claremont Museum of Art in Claremont, CA, and the Descanso Gardens’ Sturt Haaga Gallery in La Canada Flintridge, CA, among others. Maull has had works acquired by several prominent private collections, including that of Beth DeWoody.

Kyle Johnson

Born 1982 in Bakersfield, CA
Tierra del Sol artist since 2019

Kyle Johnson is a visionary artist working across painting, drawing, ceramics, textiles, and poetry. After a childhood accident and the subsequent period of rehabilitation, Johnson turned to artmaking as a refuge and source of inspiration. Johnson’s practice allows him to cope with his physical inability to walk; he says “While I’m working, all the problems I have seem to go away.” Johnson comfortably oscillates between writing and visual art, he is the author of two books of poetry. In his debut collection, “Drawing a Blank,” Johnson uses his poems and drawings to offer insight into the intersection of race, disability, environmentalism, and love. His most recent book, “Outta My Head,” is an experimental collection of poetry and philosophy based on phone conversations between Johnson and his mentor, Garland McCutcheon. Emphasizing the natural beauty offered by the earth, his acrylic paintings depict grassy fields, dramatic skies, monumental trees, billowing clouds, and boundless roads. Painting landscapes attunes Johnson to the inherent growth and energy of nature. With wisdom, tenderness, and intensity, Johnson beckons viewers and readers to explore his unbridled vision of the world.

Johnson’s debut solo exhibition, “Working Man’s Hands,” was exhibited at Tierra del Sol Gallery in Spring 2023 and included two special events: a poetry reading curated by the artist and an artist talk between Johnson and jill moniz.

Tonmoy Khan

Born 1996 in Chittagong, Bangladesh
Tierra del Sol artist since 2019

Tonmoy Khan was born 1996 in Chittagong, Bangladesh, he immigrated to Rancho Cucamonga, CA as a teenager. Khan fluctuates between bright, saturated colors and soft pastels, sometimes within the same piece. Flowers, disembodied limbs, unending skies, and bones are among frequent subjects rendered by the artist, who primarily creates from his, self-titled, “secret imagination.” Synthesizing contrasting elements within an atmosphere of controlled chaos, Khan’s images overflow with the sacred and the profane. He is inspired by the cosmos as well as cartoons– discovering insight in the most delicate processes of nature and his favorite video games alike. Taking an intuitive, multimedia approach, Khan completes his work with an unpredictable mixture of marker, oil pastel, colored pencil, and paint. Offering moments of both joy and despair, Khan implores viewers to cherish the unexpected.

Tonmoy Khan has exhibited his work at Tierra del Sol Gallery and the Felix Art Fair in Los Angeles, CA. His debut solo exhibition, “Everything,” opened in January 2023.

Trina Kirkman

Born 1964 in Los Angeles
Tierra del Sol Artist since 2004

Trina Kirkman experimented with various media before finding her true passion for textile art. The artist’s nearly 20-year tenure at Tierra del Sol has seen Kirkman venture from painting to ceramic to crochet, but now she works almost exclusively on a rigid heddle loom or floor loom. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Kirkman is inspired by the world around her, pulling imagery and color from the rich desert landscapes and wildlife. While her woven works are primarily abstract, Kirkman occasionally incorporates embroidered elements that depict flowers, birds, and other earthly elements—an homage to the inspiration she finds in nature. Kirkman prefers to practice free-weaving rather than planning out her patterns, instinctively pulling colorful fibers together via an organic warp and weft approach. Influenced by the saturated colors and geometric patterns of stained glass, Kirkman creates her woven works in segments before organically assembling smaller pieces into larger compositions. Kirkman’s weavings effortlessly oscillate between fine art and craft, she creates wall hangings as well as wearable items such as scarves, bags, and pillows, each piece embodying her harmonious vision of color and texture. 

Kirkman is also an accomplished poet, her work has been published in Tierra del Sol’s poetry anthology, It Makes You Think Of Soul Things In Your Mind. Kirkman has exhibited her work in group exhibitions at Tierra del Sol Gallery in Los Angeles.