Fractured Translucence

Kimberlee Koym-Murteira installation
August 21-September 12
Reception Friday, August 21, 5–7 p.m.
Artist talk at 6 p.m.
Mandolin music by Rob Wilson

www.kimberleekoym-murteira.com

Three above photos by Doug Rathbun

Fascinated by the exchange of energy and toxic substances people share with each other and the world around them, Kimberlee Koym-Murteira explores the permeability of physical and psychological boundaries—with a focus on resiliency and translucency. She reflects on how technology intersects our lives and the pace of society imprints a toll on individuals. Her installations are composed of interactive machines, kinetic sculptures, videos and studies of natural phenomena, enticing the viewer to rethink ideas of reuse, toxicity, availability, activity, and beauty.

For her installation 99¢ Bubble, Koym-Murteira put a toxic twist on the idea of “shopping local” by purchasing all of her materials, candy-hued cleaners and plastic goods, at the neighborhood West Oakland 99¢ Store, one of the only resources for goods in the area. Conversely in her installation, Converter, she focused on materials in a raw state, transforming water, nightlights, and unpainted pegboard into a series of moving water sculptures imbibed with differing personalities. Using a self-invented video projection system, these characters were housed within the domestic setting, a pegboard cut out created the illusion that the spectator themselves were inside one of the moving boxes. While this involvement was only suggestive, at other times as for the installation Watermachine, she turned control of the imagery over to the spectators by making an interactive interface to create and play with shimmering arcs of light.

Originally from San Antonio, Texas, Koym-Murteira now lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. In Northern California, she has shown her work at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Mission 17, and Sonoma State University, the Invisible Venue, and The Lab. In 2004 she was awarded a residency grant by Lugar Comum in Lisbon, Portugal. In Europe, her work has been shown at the Biennial of Mediterranean Young Artist in Saravejo, Bosnia, Porto 2000 Capital of Culture, Cultural Center Malaposta, Gallery ZDB, and 'Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin' in 2001. That year she also participated in shows at Palm Beach Institute of Contemporary Arts in Florida and Beecher Center for Technology in the Arts in Ohio. She earned her MFA in Art from Mills College and holds an MA in scenography from Central St. Martins College of Art & Design, London. In the fall she will be lecturer at Diablo Valley College.

Please note: Designed by Carla Resnick for Fractured Translucence, a limited-edition catalog, which includes images by Koym-Murteira and an essay by Abi Basch, will be on sale at the gallery for $10.