KIM DEJESUS: Letter To A Memory

KIM DEJESUS LET TER TO A MEMORY

KIM DEJESUS

LET TER TO A MEMORY

KIM DEJESUS

William Turner Gallery is pleased to present our debut solo exhibition for Kim DeJesus, entitled Letter to a Memory. This new series of colorful abstract paintings continues the artist’s exploration of memory - delving into those aspects of life that can be controlled and those that cannot.

“I often perceive my painting practice as a series of letters, or messages to my inner self or the past, and that my paintings are a letter to myself, a record of a moment in life, merging a lived experience I’ve had with the present moment”, DeJesus says.

In these fluidly inventive paintings, DeJesus employs additive and subtractive gestures to elicit complex, visual tensions.

Fragmented compositions mirror the complexities of memory and the elusive nature of self-understanding, as the artist seeks to unravel the interconnectedness of memories and the disjointed nature of personal narratives. Using layers and washes, removing material or occasionally cutting up paintings, DeJesus often merges old and new paintings to tell a new story and explore how memories connect.

Utilizing a process that embraces both the intentional and the accidental, the paintings evidence an ongoing conversation between artist, material and image. The spontaneity of colorful washes stand in contrast to the intentionality of overlaid marks and added materials. Fields of color are manipulated to move, but complete control

LETTER TO A MEMORY

is not always an option, nor the point.

Discussing her palette, DeJesus says, “I gravitate to using bright colors - pastel or even neon hues. These colors have an intensity that chimes with my inner world. I use them in a chaotic, often optically dissonant way, or in a way that I wouldn’t always expect. For me, it is not about the beauty of the colors, or their attention getting qualities, but their fantastical intensity. I feel in tune with their dreamlike qualities and the memory experiences they inspire. These childlike hues reflect the nostalgic essence of childhood experiences, serving as a reminder that the child within us never truly disappears.”

Explaining further, the artist states; “While my work is purely abstract, and nonrepresentational, gestures often suggest forms that repeat and I’ll begin to categorize them. Portal motifs have emerged in my work over the years and in this body of work, I have come to see them as mirrors and caves. A mirror symbolizes a surface of reflection and containment, while a cave is a geographical formation you can physically enter. Both represent portals of transformation, femininity, and spiritual transcendence and for me become gateways to inner exploration.”

Letter to a Memory suggests a personal and intimate journey through memories, reflecting on experiences and emotions in an exploration of self and DeJesus’ relationship to the past.

The Mirror of Goodbyes, 2023, Acrylic and oil on canvas, 78 x 60 inches

The Mirror of Goodbyes (Detail), 2023, Acrylic and oil on canvas, 78 x 60 inches

The Space Left, 2022, Acrylic, oil and mixed materials on canvas, 78 x 60 inches

Tinted Vows

2024, Acrylic, oil and mixed material on multi canvas, 88.5 x 67 inches

Water Notes, 2024, Acrylic on multi canvas, 91.5 x 58 inches

The Water Mirror, 2023, Acrylic, oil and mixed material on canvas, 78 x 60 inches

Scars and Letters II, 2023, Acrylic and mixed material on canvas, 78 x 60 inches

Delicate Reminders , 2023, Acrylic, oil and drawing material on canvas, 78 x 60 inches

Corrections and Longings, 2023, Acrylic, oil and mixed material on canvas, 78 x 60 inches

Water Moon, 2024, Acrylic on canvas, 60 x 44 inches

Blue Portal, 2022-2023, Acrylic and mixed material on canvas, 72 x 56 inches

What Happens to the Heart, 2022-2024, Acrylic, oil and drawing material on canvas, 60 x 78 inches

Hourglass Vows , 2023, Acrylic and mixed material on canvas, 78 x 60 inches

Pink Line Sun, Acrylic, oil and mixed materials on canvas, 27 x 23.5 inches

The Missing II, 2022, Acrylic on canvas, 56 x 48 inches

Broken Mirror, Cave, 2023-2024, Acrylic and mixed material on multi canvas, 39 x 78 1/4 inches

The Anchor, 2023, Acrylic and mixed material on canvas, 56 x 48 inches

Letters & Scratches, 2023, Acryclic and mixed material on canvas, 56 x 48 inches

KIM DEJESUS

The improvisational abstractions of Kim DeJesus tap into her interest in memory - how it works and what it reveals about us and the world. DeJesus explores how marks, colors, layers, erasures, and patches evoke remembrance and forgetfulness and suggest the discoveries we make and the absences in our lives. Her work is informed by a concern with the relationship between ourselves and natural processes, particularly the dichotomy we face in being simultaneously “a part of” and “apart from” the natural world. As the artist states: “This tension is echoed in the way I work. The material is not entirely controlled in my studio, allowing for accidents, discoveries, and an ongoing conversation between myself, the material and what’s appearing on the canvas or paper. Frequently, I introduce marks and collage elements whose intentionality disrupts the happenstance of their fluid elements. The completed painting is a record of that process and the corrections and alterations that months of work bring about. Ultimately, I’m looking for artworks that depend for their transcendence in the tension between beauty

simple means.”

Kim DeJesús trained at Arizona State University, where she was the recipient of the Katherine K. Herberger Painting Scholarship, and received a Post-Graduate degree in art from North Central College in Naperville, Illinois. After her studies, Kim took a teaching position. For over a decade, she pursued community-based collaborative art initiatives in the US and abroad. In recent years, her studio practice has led her back to painting and she lives and works in Los Angeles, CA.

and flaw, between grand ambition and

Photograph Courtesy Magnus Unnar

KIM DEJESUS

LETTER TO A MEMORY