Los Angeles-based artist Erick Medel (b. 1992, Puebla, Mexico) creates intimate portraits of immigrant life using a sewing machine and thread much like one would use a paintbrush and oils.  Medel began working with textiles while completing his MFA at the Rhode Island School of Design. Medel moved to the United States from Mexico as a teenager, and he positions his work in the context of the wider history of immigrant labor. Medel’s work has been shown internationally and domestically in locations such as Plan X Gallery, Milan; de boer, Antwerp; Omni Gallery, London; Martha’s Contemporary, Austin; F2T Gallery, Milan; and Charlie James Gallery, Los Angeles. His work is in the collection of the Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento. Medel lives and works in Los Angeles, CA and is represented by Charlie James Gallery.