Darel Carey

Darel Carey is a visual artist based in Los Angeles. He was born in Curaçao, and grew up in Colton, California. He served in the US Air Force as a language analyst for 11 years, then separated in 2012 to pursue a career in art, graduating from Otis College of Art and Design with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 2016.  His current work includes dimensional line drawings and immersive tape installations. Optical and spatial perception are his main focus; he uses lines to shape and bend the perceived dimensions of a surface or a space. Darel has always had an affinity towards spatial perspectives and illusion, and is fascinated by our visual understanding of the world around us. He is influenced by MC Escher's geometrical illusions and tessellations, Carl Krull's line drawings, and Bridget Riley's Optical Art. He explores the emergent effects that come from consistency with slight variation, which is an organic process. From simple lines, complex shapes and spaces can be formed. In this way, Darel sees a strong connection between his art and the patterns of nature, from the beginning of our known universe, to the birth of stars and galaxies, to life on Earth. He feels that the best imagination comes from the best understanding of reality, and is inspired by the sciences, including the works and writings of cosmologists Lawrence Krauss and Sean Carroll. He appreciates the beauty of emergent properties and systems found in nature, and attempts to embody these attributes in his art