artist and former inmate carves 20 years of prison life onto egg shells

artist and former inmate carves 20 years of prison life onto egg shells
(above) reception: fresh fish, 2015, carved ostrich egg shell, 6.5 x 5 x 5 in.
images courtesy of ricco maresca

gil batle: hatched in prison
ricco/maresca gallery, new york
november 5, 2015 – january 9, 2016.

after spending more than 20 years in five different california prisons for fraud and forgery, artist gil batle now resides on a small island in the philippines. while behind bars, he fixated on developing a set of sophisticated tattooing skills — an artistry that impressed fellow inmates and protected him from gang violence. now released, batle has evolved his self-taught drawing ability into a complex creative craft that expands the traditional methods of illustration, and combines it with an atypical medium: ostrich egg shells. batle has expanded his experience inside prison into a visual timeline, carefully and meticulously carved into the fragile exterior surface of eggs.

tattoo, 2015, carved ostrich egg shell, 6.5 x 5 x 5 in.

batle’s orb-like relief carvings feature a rounded arrangement of pictorial panels, separated by descriptive drawings of chain-link fencing, barbed-wire and hand-cuffs. appearing on the eggs in pristine detail, the lives of the violent men he knew, the terrifying events he witnessed, and even the friendships formed tell the story of both a troubled ordeal and a realized potential, once which may not have been found without his experiences in jail.

51/50 dreams, 2015, carved ostrich egg shell, 6.5 x 5 x 5 in.

sanctuary, 2014, carved ostrich egg shell, 6.5 x 5 x 5 in.

jargon, 2014, carved ostrich egg shell, 6.5 x 5 x 5 in.

jamestown, 2015, carved ostrich egg shell, 6.5 x 5 x 5 in.

it’s your fault II, 2014, carved ostrich egg shell, 6.5 x 5 x 5 in.

gang chart II, 2015, carved ostrich egg shell, 6.5 x 5 x 5 in.

naked II, 2015, carved ostrich egg shell, 6.5 x 5 x 5 in.

it’s your fault II, 2014, carved ostrich egg shell, 6.5 x 5 x 5 in.

cicada nymphs, 2014, carved ostrich egg shell, 6.5 x 5 x 5 in.

ghost communication, 2014, carved ostrich egg shell, 6.5 x 5 x 5 in.