Unknown Terrain by Jim Park

Opening on Friday, October 6^th from 6 – 9pm. The exhibition will continue until October 28, 2017.

×

Expand

Jim Park, "Unknown terrain," 2017

oil and acrylic on canvas, 72" x 90"

The Northern landscape forms an important part of Jim Park’s practice. Park sees paint as a language; the memory of lived experience merges with the pictorial possibilities on the canvas. His paintings are records of this merging - memory, perception, and emotional experience made real.

While he draws inspiration from photographs, sketches, and field notes, his works are deeply sensitive to his connection with dream states. His images thus exist as a form of personal collage. He invents and synthesizes as much as he represents. This dynamic between fact and imagination presents a compelling visual paradox through Park’s pieces: we can see both the photograph and the dream.

Park’s skill here is rooted in his understanding that a painting, however representational, is always an abstraction. While his technical realism is amply demonstrated in works such as Turbulence and Recirculating Flow, Park understates technique. He doesn’t care to hide the painterly in his work; on the contrary he emphasizes impasto, brushstroke, drip, and motion. Yet his accuracy shines through. He handles light and form so that we are convinced of them without dwelling on them.

Seen from across the room, Shallow Water would seem to be photographically detailed, from the subtly reddened wave striations to the glacial blue peaks of each water ripple. Upon closer observation, we see that Park has achieved such authenticity through thick application and loose movement. In Mirror, the specific rendering of ripples and reflection in the foreground gives way to broader application in the distant branches and wooded area. The scene is unified and convincing while displaying a bold range of brushstroke, from attentively close to freely open.

This balance of spontaneity and attention in the finished work is also a reflection of Park’s process. Its vein runs strongly through his work: the simplification of a visual idea, encouraging quick reading for immediate impact. Under Park’s considered practice, the impact is also lasting.