Mihee Nahm: Healing

From Artspace 111:

“Healing by Mihee Nahm showcases everyday flora Nahm encounters on daily walks. What Nahm refers to as “marginalized greeneries,” compositions of trees, vines, and domesticated plants fill extremely dense oil paintings. What began as a photographic encounter, quickly turned to a digitally archived collection of interesting subject matter. Formal elements such as color, texture, light, shape, and form are selected and often digitally altered to communicate Nahm’s visual attraction while evoking a sense of longing. Starting with acrylic on a small scale, these images are drawn, and then a few are selected for life-sized renderings in oil. This labor-intensive way of creation emphasizes Nahm’s primary goal of mimesis. Although each individual painting goes through various approaches of fabrication, the consistency of added layers is evident throughout the entire series.

Nahm says, “Layering allows a second chance; rather than expecting it to be perfect the first time, I approach the subject matter slowly and organically in order to get the right value and color. Some days, painting takes on a meditative quality. Other days, it is chaotic. Other days still, it simply feels vague. On rare occasions, painting seems magical, transforming my initial attraction into a physical object.”