Creativity Meets Curiosity at Carr Winery

Objects of Curiosity assemblage artist Dan LeVin has himself become an object of curiosity in a new documentary short film of that name by Roberto Varela, which will screen in conjunction with a pop-up art show at Carr Winery on Saturday, May 10. 

An independent filmmaker based in Santa Barbara, Varela was born in Ventura, and the former paramedic’s films “celebrate the timeless art of storytelling through the visual art of motion picture and sound design. His love of movies inspires him to create works that build a connection with the audience.”

The seeds of this project were planted years ago, when Varela first walked into LeVin’s Funk Zone studio around 2012. As LeVin recalls, “We talked a bit about art and music and exchanged biz cards. As the years passed, we ran into each other a bit, mostly on social media.”

Cut to more than a decade later. “Recently, I was hanging art at Fess Parker Winery in the Funk Zone, and Varela happened to walk in. He asked me if I would be willing to be the subject of a documentary he was tasked with producing for a filmmaking course at SBCC,” said LeVin. He was initially reluctant to collaborate and said “no,” after having experienced what he described as a nerve-racking “Broadcast News–level movie sweat scene some years back” and hadn’t consented to doing any live or on camera interviews since.

LeVin reconsidered when Varela offered to film him backlit as the camera followed him around Santa Barbara, discussing his evolution, process, and values as an artist. With an artist statement that “one man’s trash is another man’s career,” and a substantial body of work — from elaborately cut playing-card decks to knot sculptures composed of discarded bottle caps, and mobiles, assemblage art pieces, and sculptures made with everything from skateboards to toy pieces, photographs, sports equipment, and ephemera — to back it up, LeVin has stayed endearingly true to himself during a long career that began in the early 1980s and is still going strong today.

His work is wildly varied in style and materials, but there’s a surprising cohesiveness of design, and elements of surprise and witty themes that often comment on the absurdities of life throughout LeVin’s oeuvre.

In the film, which had its premiere at the 2025 Santa Barbara International Film Festival, LeVin talks about his past, his current work, the power of art, and his beliefs about the future for artists. 

Among the art pieces on view at the show will be two made specifically for display at Carr Winery: “Try the Wine,” part of a series made with wine barrel hoops as a base; and “Puccinelli Was Here,” a portraiture assemblage piece inspired by the late artist Keith Puccinelli, who often included versions of his own face in his artwork. 

The Objects of Curiosity exhibit and short film screening takes place on Saturday, May 10, 6-9 p.m. at Carr Winery (414 N. Salsipuedes St.). Admission is free, but guests must be 21+.

View the trailer for the film at bit.ly/4k5imMF. For more information about filmmaker Roberto Varela, visit his website at howlpublications.com. For more information about artist Dan LeVin, see danlevin.com.