Art Beatus Gallery is pleased to present two modern artists with international backgrounds who have redefined themselves in Western society. Hye-Kyung Kim, is a Korean-Canadian artist who uses rich colors and elements from nature to express her feelings; Toru Sugita is a Japanese-American artist who is attracted to and affected by light and shadow. This is the first time the gallery has ever featured such a unique pairing of artists, each with their own distinct style which contrast yet complement one another; a combination of the natural versus urban environment. Flashing opens with an artist talk on Thursday, May 30, 2002 from 5 pm to 6 pm, then to be followed by an evening reception from 6 pm to 8 pm.

Hye-Kyung Kim

Hye-Kyung Kimwas born in Seoul, Korea. As a child she loved to draw, and often carried a sketchpad wherever she went drawing any subject she happened to see. In her early years, she took private lessons with well-known painters in Korea, participating in several national art exhibitions and winning many prestigious awards. During this period she studied drawing, watercolor, oil painting, oriental painting, and fine art styles. Kim then obtained her Bachelor and Master of Fine Arts degrees at Hong-Ik University in Seoul, South Korea, majoring in oriental painting; creating realistic renderings of portraits, landscapes, flowers, and birds. While Hye-Kyung Kim wishes to be true to her Korean heritage, she wants to overcome the limitations of oriental painting, feeling that, "tradition should be developed and renewed rather than simply sustained". She challenges both traditional and modern ways at the same time. Kim incorporates elements from nature into her paintings which are quiet and subtle, yet lean towards modernism, mixing Western and Asian design. Her work has a childlike quality with a sophisticated approach, disregarding frivolous details, the essence of the image being most important. She hopes her work will transcend cultural barriers, and move and touch people of all ages all over the world. "My motivation for painting is my desire to express my perceptions and emotions through the media and techniques I have learned to use. The results are not necessarily true depictions of the real world objects around me. They should be perceived by the viewer as representative of my feelings at the time."

Toru Sugita

Toru Sugita was born in Shiga, Japan. He obtained his Bachelor of Education in Art at Kyoto University of Education. A printmaker, Sugita works with light and shadow, describing places architecturally, creating space using intersecting diagonal lines. He is often moved by shapes and colours that may change or disappear in the next moment, 'when sunlight touches an object in the afternoon!K', and tries to capture moments that affect him by expressing them through his work. Sugita works with the intaglio process, concentrating mainly on etching and aquatint, and feels he can express himself best through the graphic nature of black and white. His printmaking style primarily dealt with Japanese themes, but Sugita who has been living in San Francisco for the last 5 years now tends to be drawn to Californian scenery. "I hope my work is appreciated by as many people as possible. I love prolonged shadows, air and the time of 5 o'clock in the afternoon, and I want to capture the transiency or fragility of those things in my work. I want to convey what I felt to viewers. I would rather 'convey' than 'be understood'. For this reason, I want to create artwork as understandable as possible."

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