B5- Artist Conversation- Kim Abeles

Artist: Kim Abeles
Exhibition: Call and Response, When We Say… You Say
Media: Ink on paper
Gallery: CSULB, University Art Museum
Website: Kimabeles.com
Instagram: Kimabeles

Kim Abeles was born in 1952, and is an American artist living in Los Angeles. She is mostly known for being an activist because of her works of political and social nature. Abeles would also be described as a feminist. She has created projects with the California Science Center, air pollution control agencies, health clinics and mental health departments, and natural history museums in California, Colorado and Florida. Abeles has a very impressive and extensive resume of her work that she has clearly invested a lot emotionally and physically.

Abeles piece that was presented at the art museum caught my eye immediately and I knew I wanted to write about it. Her work was displayed with two panels stretched horizontally and on each paper was ink stretched across like an EKG. Each horizontal line was continuous and took the shape if sine buildings and trees but nothing too in detailed. The lines were small and created movement because she was literally on a train drawing this and let her hand move to the movement of the train. You have to get pretty close up to see the quaint images but it tells a story.

I loved this piece because from far away I was confused as to what it was exactly, so it drew me in and made me want to get a closer look to discover what it was trying to display. Once I took a second to observe the image I started hearing all the sounds on the train. The loud tracks against one another, the random conversations among strangers, the subtle julting of the training and the fast pace lives living just outside of it. I thought that was quite beautiful how a work of art like that could make me feel. It even made me feel safe in a way and I really resonated with that.

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