Through enigmatic paintings, Calvin Kim seeks to preserve and prolong the unfolding of dreamlike, intimate moments. Alone or in pairs, Kim’s subjects are depicted amid contemplative, emotional states. Birds huddle close together while perched on a branch, blue figures chain smoke as the silhouette of a house burns in the distance, or a cat struggles with a foe– that might be just a shadow of itself. Absurdity, humor, and lightness reappear throughout Kim’s works, offsetting themes of melancholy and vulnerability– as in one portrait of a moth, shown with its mouth agape and eyes watering as it is about to be “raptured” by a pair of rapidly approaching headlights. Despite the impending danger, an atmosphere of magic suffuses the scene–from the warm, shimmering glow of the headlamps, to a cluster of wildflowers blooming from the darkness– indicative of nature’s continuous cycles of birth, death, and renewal. Like peering through a window to catch a glimpse of someone else’s dream, the works transmit psychological undercurrents through form, color, light, and texture, conveying the mood of an experience rather than mere description. Ghostly traces of pentimenti heighten this effect, while scumbling lighter or brighter colors over contrasting tones adds tooth and dimensionality to the canvases, building a layered, dynamic surface that reflects the complex nature of memory itself. Light is reflected through clouds, mist, fog, and exhaled breath, ephemeral phenomena that underscore the precarity of life. Inhabiting the slippery boundary between slumber and waking, tragedy and humor, sorrow and hope, these pictures speak to the intrinsic poetry of fleeting moments.
New York City, NY; NYC