Artist Information
About Me
A passion for pushing craft, concept, and inquiry guides me through style and media. My search for the fractal edge has taken me though Christian iconography, Buddhist mandalas, scientific diagrams, the occult, games, and graffiti.
I've worked for a decade in the museum field, earned an MFA from SFAI, fabricated artworks for public & private institutions, and created concept art and storyboards.
My most recent work is The American Tarot, a full 78 card tarot deck complete with companion text. This was a collaboration with my wife and partner, Kristin Shiplet.
Zen and the West
"A great number of scholars and monks have wanted to transplant Zen in Europe and America. Have these efforts proved successful? It remains to be seen. From the standpoint of knowledge, certain scholars... have contributed a great deal toward arousing the interest of Westerners in Zen Buddhism. Zen has influenced the thinking of theologians... and philosophers...
But Zen does not yet exist in the West as a living tradition. Many monks are teaching the practice of Zen there, but this practice still remains Oriental; foreign to Western culture. The fact is that Zen has not yet been able to find roots in this soil. Cultural, economic, and psychological conditions are different in the West. One cannot become a practitioner of Zen by imitating the way of eating, sitting, or dressing of the Chinese and Japanese practitioners.
Zen is life; Zen does not imitate. If Zen one day becomes a reality in the West, it will acquire a Western form, considerably different from Oriental Zen."
Thich Nhat Hanh - Zen Keys. Anchor Books, 1974. p.96
Curriculum Vitae
Solo Exhibitions:
- Flores Unum - Avenue 12 Gallery, San Francisco, CA 2018
- The New Cosmograph - Younhee Paik Studio for Art & Music, Oakland, CA 2017
- Mapping Insight - Tubac Center of the Arts, Tubac, AZ 2014
- The New Mandala - Capitol Hill Presbyterian Church, Seattle, WA 2013
- Contemporary Objects of Worship - A Gallery Space Seattle, WA 2011
- 1 Origin Project - Online, promotion, & web based project 2006-2009
- Framing the Moment: A 172,800 Second Exhibition - Black Box Gallery, Seattle, WA 2007
- Everything Theory - Custom gallery space, Ellensburg, WA 2006
Selected Group Exhibitions:
- SOS Planet Earth - Stola Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL 2021
- Heirarchy - Gearbox Gallery, Oakland, CA 2021
- Scientific Illustration - Fe Gallery, Sacramento, CA 2018
- Calligraphies in Conversation - Skylight Gallery of SF Public Library, San Francisco, CA 2017
- Argatha - Diego Rivera Gallery, San Francisco, CA 2017
- Promotional Clutter - Real Old Paper Gallery, San Francisco, CA 2017
- Superficial - Diego Rivera Gallery, San Francisco, CA, 2017
- Digital Koans - Paul Sacks Gallery, San Francisco, CA, 2017
- Three Rings & Two Parties, The Election Circus - Wiseman Gallery, Grants Pass, OR, 2016
- The Door to the Invisible Must be Made Visible - Mount Analogue, Seattle, WA 2016
- Interfaith Biennial -O’Connor Gallery, Dominican University, Forest River, IL 2016
- ICON - Lynn Hanson Gallery, Seattle, WA 2016
- Our Daily Homage - ArtsWest Gallery & Playhouse, Seattle, WA 2015
- Mandala - ArtXchange Gallery, Seattle, WA 2014
- Experiencing War - Ann Street Gallery, Newburgh, NY 2014
- O Good Lord - Jackson Junge Gallery, Chicago, IL 2013
- A Single Grain of Rice - Metanoia Gallery, Paris, France 2013
- UNESCO Bioethics & Religion Exhibition - Harbour City Gallery, Hong Kong, 2013
- Compass - Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, Santa Ana, CA 2013
- 50th Anniversary Gala Auction - Graduate Theological Union, San Francisco, CA 2013
- Timeless Meditations: Mandalas in Nature - Tubac Center for the Arts, Tubac, AZ 2012
- Genesis 2013 - Jackson Junge Gallery, Chicago, IL 2012
- Promise - Capitol Hill Presbyterian Church,Seattle, WA 2012
- Revolution 2012 - Jackson Junge Gallery, Chicago, IL 2012
- Under the Bed Gallery - McMurdo Station, Ross Island, Antarctica 2012
- Occupy the Walls - Gainsbourg Lounge, Seattle, WA 2012
- Share, Remix, Reuse - Gallery 110, Seattle, WA 2011
- New Members' Show - Gallery 110, Seattle, WA 2011
- Embracing Our Differences - Island Park, Sarasota, FL 2011
- RAWartists Seattle Showcase - Featured artist at H&G Lounge, Seattle, WA 2011
- 30 Works Challenge - Forgotten Works Gallery, Seattle, WA 2010
- CVG 2010: Annual Juried Exhibition - Collective Visions Gallery, Bremerton, WA 2010
- CVG 2009: Annual Juried Exhibition - Collective Visions Gallery, Bremerton, WA 2009
- SOURCE: Symposium on University Research & Creative Expression - CWU, 2005 & 2006
Press & Publications:
- Bay Area Artist Eric Carson Challenges Beliefs with the Speed of Technology, Peninsula Press, June 2017
- Eric Carson & Younhee Paik: Interview: Current & Alumni, (Im)material, May 2017
- Issue 5: Anatomy of Illumination, Thought Notebook: Literary & Visual Art Journal - 2016
- Mandala 21 - CityArts, March 2015
- Our Daily Homage - ArtsWest.org March 2015
- UNESCO Art Exhibit Opens in Hong Kong - Bioethicsart.org, January 3, 2014
- RAWArtists interview, March 2011
- Bricolage: 30th anniversary issue - University of Washington Arts Journal, 2012
- Stranger Suggests: Contemporized mandalas by Eric Carson - The Stranger Slog, Feb 2011
- CVG Show: Eric Carson - The Artful Blogger, February 9, 2010
- Currently Hanging - The Stranger Slog, August 6, 2009
- Symposium Program - SOURCE. CWU campus, May 2005 & 2006
Education:
- MFA, San Francisco Art Institute 2017
- BFA, Painting: Central Washington University 2006
- Study abroad Florence, Italy 2004
Awards:
- Younhee Paik Award, San Francisco Art Institute, 2017
- Clyde & Co. Award, Clyde & Co. 2017
- C. Farrell Scholarship, Central Washington University, 2006
Talks:
- Guest Lecture - Sacred & Profane: SFAI, San Francisco, CA 2018
- 2nd Independence - Walter & McBean Gallery, San Francisco, CA 2017
- Joint Artist Talk - ArtsWest Gallery & Playhouse, Seattle, WA 2015
- Art Speaks: Artist Lecture - Tubac Center of the Arts, Tubac, AZ 2014
- Art Starts: Family Education Program - Tubac Center of the Arts, Tubac, AZ 2014
- Bricolage Release Party - Jacob Lawrence Gallery, Seattle, WA 2012
- Open Floor - Henry Art Gallery, Seattle, WA 2007
- BFA Thesis Presentation - CWU Campus, 2006
- Symposium Presentation - SOURCE. CWU campus, 2005 & 2006