All are invited to welcome Korean-American artist Matilda Kim at an Artist Reception on Sunday, December 3. She will open an exhibit of her paintings entitled “Can You Hear Me?”  Kim will make a brief presentation about her work, and refreshments will be served. 

Matilda Kim started drawing during her childhood in the countryside, and she loved art class. Through middle school and high school, she attended an art university and immersed herself in painting. She remembers those days as happy times filled with passion. However, when she came to the United States, a much bigger country than Korea, she remembers, “I faced many obstacles laid before me. I stopped at times, and I stumbled at others. But looking back, [I see that] they were stepping stones urging me to tread carefully, even when I paused or stumbled."

Most of the paintings in this exhibit are of stones. Kim explains that she chose this subject because "Stones are like people. I wondered how sharp you are at first, and now, I wanted to be as gentle as you, an aged stone like myself."  She decided to give new life to the stone. As she painted, she “wanted to carve the dots of a hundred years and the lines of a thousand years on unchanging Hanji."  (Hanji is a traditional handmade very long-lasting Korean paper.) As you look at her paintings, the artist invites you to ask yourself, “Can you hear the sound of one soft stone becoming the earth in some corner of the world..?"

Most paintings in the exhibit are for sale and additional items will be available during the reception.  A portion of the proceeds benefits UUC, and another portion will support the construction of a new building for the Asia Pacific Cultural Center in Tacoma.  For more information or to purchase a painting, you may attend the reception, visit the Art Learning Station during the coffee hour after services on December 3, or talk to a member of the Art Committee wearing a red button.

The exhibit will hang until January 6, 2024.

Contact: Judy Oerkvitz, UUC Art Committee Co-Chair