Carla Avila

1. Loi and Charlie – oil on canvas
1. Strawberry Shortcake – oil on canvas

Carla Avila’s work functions as a memoir of childhood experience. She explores the relationships that certain objects, foods, words, sounds, songs, and smells have with one another and examines how they can trigger specific memories. Her simple scenes evoke common memories and the excitement we feel when remembering them.

Avila received a B.A. in Art History with a minor in Studio Arts from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She spent a semester abroad at the Rome University of Fine Arts, where she studied painting. She is an alumna of Marwen, a nonprofit youth arts organization in Chicago, where she worked on the Alumni Advisory Board and assisted in teaching various art classes. Avila has had two solo shows and has participated in numerous group shows, including exhibitions at the 3Arts Club and 33rd & Urban. She was awarded the Community Arts Assistance Program grant in 2006 and has work in the University of Chicago’s collection, with pieces currently on view at Comer Children’s Hospital. Avila lives in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood.

© Carla Avila