Korean-Colombian
artist Gala Porras-Kim received an MFA from CalArts and an MA in Latin
American Studies from UCLA. She currently lives and works in Los Angeles and London.
Gala Porras-Kim: A Hand in Nature. Installation view at MCA Denver, 2024. © Gala Porras-Kim. Photo: Wes Magyar
Multi-disciplinary
artist Gala Porras-Kim’s practice questions how knowledge is acquired and tests
the potential for artworks and objects to function as meaning-makers outside of
traditional museum contexts.
For
her exhibition, A Hand in Nature, which originated at
MCA Denver, Porras-Kim extends lines of questioning into conservation,
preservation, and care to the broader natural world and lived environment. The
artworks on view distill natural processes into sculptures, paintings and
drawings that will grow, evolve or degrade throughout the span of the
exhibition. From sculptures rendered with salt-saturated concrete
or copal resin wetted with local rainwater, to paintings created from
slow drips of water drawing from the museum’s humidity and projections from
light refractions off of brass panels, Porras-Kim’s work imagines what might be
possible if natural forces and phenomena had the agency to self-determine.
Generous
support provided by The Robert H. Reakirt Foundation. This exhibition is
organized by Leilani Lynch, Associate Curator, the Museum of Contemporary Art
Denver.