It’s not uncommon that an art show claims to deconstruct the human form and challenge societal notions of beauty. Derrian Pharr’s innovative “I Am a Bloodstone” makes good on this promise. The otherworldly heroines in Pharr’s works (made with pastels and prisma pencils) fail to conform even to conventions for fantastical species (fairies, mermaids, et al.). Hair takes on the texture of feathers or fur, or coils into a tail. Strange contortions recall birds, amphibians, and creatures only previously seen in dreams. Amidst all of this, beauty is indeed immediate. Vivid hues and Bratz-doll-esque features lend the figures an air of unrepentant femininity—although danger, too, lurks beneath the spectacle. Oh my Greedy Girl!/Haven’t I given you everything? From the womb I made you Held you/You are my Bond and Burden, warns one of Pharr’s poem-titles. The subject of the illustration hunches over, her spine seemingly composed of skull-shaped stones. Her pretty face betrays a sense of knowing, or perhaps a deep sadness—or perhaps her emotions, like her body, are too complex for any onlooker to fully comprehend. 

Derriann Pharr: I Am a Bloodstone
Luis De Jesus Los Angeles
1110 Matteo St.,
Los Angeles, CA 90021
On view through April 5, 2025