The modestly sized wall-mounted and freestanding sculptures in Kim Matthews’ latest exhibition, titled The Glow of Love after a 1980 song by the post-disco group Change, are geometry splashing through color. They bring us somewhere new, inspiring fresh perspectives on the way objects and our selves exist in the world.

The Glow of Love delivers this balanced approach to color and form to the Susan Hensel Gallery on Artsy.net from September 15 to November 15, 2022.

The Glow of Love continues Matthews’ recent foray into fluorescent color that began with the Objects of Affection series in 2020. Much of Matthews’ oeuvre utilizes natural materials and a monochromatic grayscale. Yet recent sociopolitical turmoil sent the artist back to her childhood — another time of unrest — to find what comforted her then. The palette she returned with now defines her new work, including the current series.

About The Pieces In Collection

That color is put to use in bold patterns that connect to Matthews’ education in layout and typographic design. That comes through in the approach and visual sensibility to many of her pieces. There is a clear love of 60s graphic design and its ripples in Pop Art. There are artistic jokes and serious references to sculptors Brancusi and Judd as well as clear influences of Jackie Winsor and Agnes Martin, among others.

In Glow of Love, each piece stands with open arms. It’s very much kind of an inner presence emitting out into a shared space. This is the sculpture of Kim Matthews. The pieces are like a study of geometry splashing through color. They are neither overly formulaic or totally lost to it’s own enthusiasm. In the end, the abstract shapes bring us somewhere new, inspiring fresh perspectives on the way both objects and our own selves exist in the world.

Matthews’ Vision

Matthews uses these sometimes-cryptic objects as pathways into a meditative frame of mind. Not unlike the yantra designs used in Tantric practice, these works present brightly colored patterns, only now spread over a three-dimensional body. Like yantras, they are meant to promote a change inside the viewer. Though a yantra might place someone on a very specific road, Matthews has repeatedly expressed a desire to allow the viewer to find the way themselves.

In that way, these pieces are not so much depictions but vehicles. They don’t bring something to you, they take you somewhere else. It’s a mission that entangles meditation with aesthetics, spirituality with materiality.

While it all might begin to sound abstract, the visceral experience of the art is not. Matthews does not wade through theoretical pretense. Rather, she delivers big feeling with immediate pay off.

"The Glow of Love" by Kim Matthews

About Kim Matthews

Matthews has exhibited across the United States in numerous selected group exhibits. Additionally, she made her international debut with a 2017 appearance in Ukraine. She has also appeared in dozens of one and two-person exhibitions across the Midwest and Pacific Northwest. Her work has won multiple awards, including a recent Merit award from the Gainesville Fine Arts Association.

The Glow of Love continues Matthews’ ongoing search for “objectness” in an artistic practice that doubles as a spiritual pursuit for introspection and connection.

Don’t miss this show at Susan Hensel Gallery!