Art to heal the soul at the Museum's
Nature Art Gallery
Award winning artists Hee Sook Kim and Ann Cheeks will exhibit their work beginning
February 3
January 31, 2006
Arts, Entertainment, Travel Editors. Images
available.
Contact: Emelia
Cowans at (919) 733-7450, ext. 305.
RALEIGH -- Recent Observations by Ann Cheeks
and Medicine, Meditation, Metaphor by Hee Sook Kim are
the latest works of art to grace the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences'
Nature Art Gallery. The exhibit runs Friday, February 3 through
Sunday, April 2. To celebrate the opening, there will be a reception
from 6-8pm that coincides with First Friday activities
February 3. The Museum Store will remain open until 9 pm.
Inspired by memories of her Korean grandmother making herbal remedies to treat
diseases and other physical ailments, Hee Sook Kim's works are heavily infused
with the power of nature, particularly plants. Kim's own research into
medicinal applications of plants, Asian philosophy, personal identity and the
events of September 11 are additional influences in her work. Text of traditional
herbal treatments in both Korean and English are layered within the drawings
of plants and weeds, chemical symbols, calligraphy and rich, vibrant color. She
will exhibit mixed-media works on canvas, linen and panel as well as etchings
relating to physical and spiritual healing.
She received her fine arts training at Seoul National University and New York
University. Since 1990 she has held several university teaching positions and
artist-in-residencies. Currently, she is an assistant professor and artist-in-residence
at Haverford College in Pennsylvania. Kim has been exhibiting continuously since
the early '80s throughout the US as well as in Seoul, Tokyo, Paris, and Taipei.
Ann Cheeks creates earthy mixed-media paintings of natural elements by layering
fabric, paint and pastels. Her medium evolved from combining her love of quilting
and appliquéing fabric with painting and drawing. Finding traditional
patchwork quilting and appliquéing too limiting, she began to explore
other ways of using fabric by applying it to stretched canvasses with acrylic
medium then painting and drawing over it. "I have found that this combination
allows me to get the depth and details, with an end result as loose and as painterly
as I wish," she says.
Cheeks earned her BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University and currently teaches
art to elementary students in Virginia. Her work is in several private and public
collections including those of the National Institutes of Health and the University
of Virginia. She shows regularly in the Charlottesville area.
The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, in downtown Raleigh, documents and interprets the natural history of the state of North Carolina through exhibits, research, collections, publications, and educational programming. Hours: Mon.-Sat., 9 am to 5 pm, and Sun., noon to 5 pm. Admission is free. Visit the Museum on the Web at naturalsciences.org. The Museum is an agency of the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources, William G. Ross Jr., Secretary.
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