Augen Gallery is pleased to present its first exhibition of works by Seattle artist Eunice Kim. With her ritualistic approach and sensitivity to Taoist philosophy, Kim's meditative dot-patterned collagraph prints demonstrate, on a seemingly magnified scale, a sense of tranquility amidst universal randomness and order.

A featured suite of prints simply titled Five Elements encapsulates the artist's awareness of Taoist teaching that all things are composed of five basic substances: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. Kim refers to the study of balance between these elements, with their dynamic relationships of change and interdependence. Each element represents a stage in a process, with Kim's focus on the property of movement that unites them. A kinetic force appears to animate Kim's imagery, as if we are seeing electrons of a substance at its atomic core. Circular forms emerge that delineate and rein in the movement, serving to underscore the inherent cyclical nature from which the elements originate.

Kim's prints have a tactility and warmth that balances the systematic restraint of her approach. Working in the medium of collagraphy, the artist builds her matrices by creating each dot in modeling paste and affixing it to a flat-plate surface. Attuned to the sense of touch, a rhythmic "Braille" built of hand-placed dots is composed on the plate. This surface is inked, wiped free of excess ink, and run through an intaglio press to be printed on paper. Chine collé, the technique of printing on a thin piece of paper adhered to a heavier support, is used to pick up the subtle nuances of each variable impression and lend further depth to the inked plate-tone. Halos of black, printed from crevices around each three-dimensional dot, are the residual deposits that emphasize the embossed dot patterning on the soft paper. Interactive points of tension between and among the dots reverberate and activate Kim's imagery, articulating the omnipresent relationship between the orderly and arbitrary that consistently influences her work.

Eunice Kim received her BA from California State University, Long Beach, and has completed post-baccalaureate studies at San Francisco State University. She has exhibited throughout the US and abroad, including China, England, Korea and Spain. Most recently Kim was awarded an artist residency at the Frans Masereel Centrum in Kasterlee, Belgium where she created her Five Elements suite.

Contact: Robert Kochs (503) 224-8182
Electronic images available on request.
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