Kayla Ephros ft. Livia Charman
New Poems ft. Chimes
July 25 - September 5, 2020
in lieu is pleased to announce New Poems ft. Chimes, an exhibition of new paintings and drawings by Los Angeles artist Kayla Ephros, her second with the gallery. The exhibition also features new wind chime sculptures by Ephros' close friend and collaborator, Livia Charman.
Two works from the exhibition, a work on paper by Ephros and a chime sculpture by Charman, will be raffled off to benefit Crenshaw Dairy Mart’s Art Supply Kits program and the Morris Home Relocation Campaign, a drive to fund RHD Morris Home’s move to a new and bigger location in Philadelphia. Morris Home is the first residential recovery program in the country to offer comprehensive services specifically for trans and gender non-conforming individuals. More information coming soon.
Please visit: www.newpoemsftchimes.com for more.
Kayla Ephros (b. 1992) is a visual artist and writer who lives and works in Los Angeles. She received a BFA from the California Institute of the Arts in 2017. She has had solo presentations at From The Desk of Lucy Bull (Los Angeles), Et. al (San Francisco), and in lieu (Los Angeles). Ephros is the leader of the September Spring writer’s workshop at Kesey Farm Project (Eugene, OR) and founder of Poetry Club at 2727 California Street (Berkeley). She regularly hosts writing and poetry workshops.
Thesaurus Stuck on Sing
I’d like to introduce a new body of work
soft and smooth
book spines studded with
stones lined up
to spell something
savory
a new series of pipes,
a jungle gym
the clouds were so fresh today
that I cried on behalf
of desire
for a cloud-painted ceiling
as a kid, and the kind of
infinity
that it would bring
to childhood
I recall the supine trap
and can see the cracks now
the most dreadful time of day
stamped by fading light
I’d rather sing a song
one that you know and love
I’d rather ignore some shapes in
this bubble
tell you something like
a sharpened pencil
but the clouds were babies today
and it got me to the first step of crying
the shapes of dreams are
so corner like curved hinges
on my head book binding on the side
everything should be a corner
every bite
stealing from a spiritual friend
and her shadow workshop
we all know our shadow selves
are wearing a leg numbing
low rise skinny jean
Shadows from Nowhere
I’d rather sing a song you know and love
I always wanted to do the shit
where you start singing while reading a poem
Some people cry the blues, I never could...
I had the brightest smile in town…
But you took it baby and turned it upside down
a song about drawing or
photoshop or magic
a best of 70’s men
singing love songs
the stress of the rest
of men Scattered like scarecrows
barking and calling me sir
when they see my face
my skater boy ego
my baggy shadow
stealing lines from my best friend she says
the sun is the best artist
she says turned on
and sings it Syrup
tonight I linger
on the delicate bangers
and by the way I weep
and wonder
where are they now
read her track list like
the beauty supply from a parallel
palace
studded with colder verbs and
elegant trappings
like things just die
but a coloring book
filled with chimes
getting super trashy about
blending where now I can’t find anything
I can tell you what it’s like but
mostly how well it works
I wanna be the girl
singing Fado in the fish restaurant
holding her sparkling necklace at her heart
while her family eats sardines in silence
the waiters stop in their tracks
I imagine her family at home together
their intimacy squashed by
by my gawking presence
the echo
it’s a new syrup and by the way I weep
