Human Nature: Desire on display in Burlingame

But in her first solo show in four years — located at the Andra Norris Gallery in Burlingame — Kim is asking viewers as well as herself to question the history, use and desire of the living elements she paints, often intertwining their natural state with societal uses. 

“The approach is more a psychological one. It’s like, what really drives people, and where has this disconnection to nature come from?” she said. “And how do I make sense of that, because I know that just being a human and living in this world, I’m susceptible to all the same sorts of history and privileges and aesthetics.” 

From intricate printings of redwood tree rounds to glamorous and macabre depictions of birds as a form of fashion to M.C. Esher-inspired natural tessellation, Kim’s work asks viewers to luxuriate within intersections of the natural world and various social and industrial repercussions. 

The show’s opening reception is Feb. 15 from 4-6 p.m. at 311 Lorton Ave. The show will run until March 14. 

Kim and Norris, a well-established gallerist who exhibits contemporary work with California roots, have known one another since 2003. 

“I was running a picture framing shop in San Francisco, and Jane came in as a designer,” Norris said. 

For Kim, exhibiting work at Norris’ gallery is a full-circle moment. 

“She’s seen me as a kid and grow up, and I’ve seen her go through a dream that she had expressed when she was my manager, my boss, that one day she’d love to have a gallery of her own,” she said. 

A San Francisco resident, Kim and her husband, Thayer Walker, run Ink Dwell studio in Half Moon Bay, focusing on large-scale public art pieces, fine art and illustrations, among other mediums. 

Walker, a writer, handles the “nonpaintbrush-related affairs,” he said, jokingly referring to himself as “the lowest common denominator” for Kim to bounce ideas off of. 

“If his reaction is a certain way or he doesn’t get it, that actually means a lot to me, because part of one of my goals as an artist — and maybe that’s the science illustrator in me — I want it to be really accessible to people,” she said. “I want this work to resonate with a broad audience.” 

Visitors to the gallery are sure to be drawn to the art for its aesthetic value alone, which Kim said she’s happy to encourage, though she’s always excited to dig deeper into the historical and scientific minutiae that makes the art uniquely hers. 

“You could walk in here and look at something and just be aesthetically attracted to the paintings … and you can still form a connection,” she said. “But then for those who want to continue to dive in more and understand why I chose the specific things that I’m painting, all the works will have an explanation.” 

The painting Envy — which features brilliant shades of green, from deep emerald to bright lime — is one example of Kim’s commitment to historical context. It brings into question the toxicity of various green pigments used in paint and wallpaper and a societal refusal to remedy those issues, a situation Kim compared to contemporary desires to ignore the impacts of climate change.

“It’s like the desire to just continue to live the lifestyle that we are accustomed to living is more important than believing that it’s actually happening,” she said. 

One piece that might immediately inspire aesthetic interest, positioned at the entrance to the gallery, is Guilty Pleasure, a delicately-crafted hat made from 21 full-bodied specimens of European Starlings. 

“One of the issues that I had with the millinery industry was that you were only taking isolated parts of birds and just using that as decoration … you’re not really honoring the bird. And so I thought, well, [what] if we left all the birds whole, in natural positions?” Kim said. “It’s this weird tension of wanting to wear it and wanting to honor it, but then also being like, ‘Oh no, no, no, this is so, so wrong.’” 

It’s a departure from Kim’s typical paintings and a companion to 1918, which depicts a woman wearing a hat made of live birds and a reference to the 1918 Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which made the hunting of migratory birds illegal. 

Like many of her works, it’s designed not to answer questions, but to provoke them. 

“We’re in this mess right now where everyone is like, ‘there’s a right and a wrong, a good and a bad,” she said. “But actually, life isn’t black and white. And so I think I’m trying to offer that gray area.”