Kim Flora at The PAC Gallery

The recent series of Kim Flora's encaustic works currently on display at the PAC Gallery are inspired by reminiscences of her childhood near Chesapeake Bay, Maryland.  The works in which this is particularly evident (for the seaside in general, for the artist also claims influences from West Coast sojourns) are ones featuring swathes of blue and oceanline (such as untitled coastline along highway 1, 2009), elements of constructs (such as a long, cold journey east, 2009) or both (city on a hill, 2009).  In the latter, and many like it, the bridge structure seems to emerge out of a mist, a common result of the wax layering technique.  Overall, the colors are often split between peaceful monochromatic variations or bold contrasts in bright colors.

Her desire to create images of her past imply a sense of longing, and even loss. The bridge-form is typically  symbolic in art of the striving to connect, yet it also presupposes distance and separation.  The monochrome renders the compositions utilizing it especially with this sense.  Furthermore, the particular bridge that appears in her compositions seems much like the ruin of a building, or even broken scaffolding

(especially for those unfamiliar   with the actual structure).  Consequently, it gives the sense of the destruction of nature upon artificial forms, like the remnants of antique monuments disappearing into oblivion.  For my sensibilities, the expressive melancholy of the ruin, the mist-like layerings, and the bridge symbol give these particular works a haunting and beautiful depth.
It is noteworthy that Chesapeake Bay, our largest estuary, became (according to my Wikipedia pseudo-research) one of the first sites in the 1970s for its oxygen-starved marine dead zone, caused by the excess of algal blooms from industrial waste.  Hence her image of it is (at least partially) idealized, like so many of our childhood memories.

There is visible in this exhibition a variety of directions that the artist seems to be exploring, both thematically and technically.  This may be construed as a strength or weakness; for younger artists, I consider such experimentation laudable.  In terms of a different approach, yet within the vein of the above mentioned psychological work, is Angel Wing #2 (2009).  The dark hue (on its left side) resembles an ocean storm, whereas the clearer patch implies unobstructed ocean sky.  Yet the two together could symbolize light breaking darkness,  heavily suggestive of hope and spiritual succor, appropriate in the context of the longings in some of her other work.
-A.C. Frabetti

'Personal Vistas: New Paintings by Kim Flora' at The PAC Gallery, 2540 Woodburn Avenue, Cincinnati. Gallery hours: Friday and Saturday 2:00 - 7:00 p.m. Sunday 12:00 - 4:00 p.m.  Call 513.321.5200 for more information. Exhibition continues through February 27, 2010.
Partial online slideshow: http://www.pacgallery.net/exhibitions/kim-flora/index.html


In photos: Above, a long, cold journey east, 2009. Mixed media and encaustic on panel, 10” x 12”.  Photo courtesy of the Artist.  Below, angel wing #2, 2009. Mixed media and encaustic on panel, 36x36in. Photo courtesy of PAC Gallery.