On Saturday, June 3rd, downtown Los Angeles’ Corey Helford Gallery (CHG) will proudly unveil a four-artist show in Gallery 3 featuring new works from Australian artist kelogsloops, Los Angeles’ own Robert Palacios, Thai artist Tarntara Sudadung, and Japanese artist Yuka Sakuma.
Hieu (aka kelogsloops) specializes in both digital and watercolor paintings, often depicting female portraiture as his preferred subject matter of choice. His work blends abstract and surreal art styles with anime influences from his upbringing. He paints with the intention of capturing fleeting and intangible feelings, portraying his figures suspended in time. Regarding his new series, titled Fables, kelogsloops shares: “This collection of paintings is a personal indulgence into a passion of mine: fables. I’ve always found myself fascinated by mythology and legends from cultures all around the world. These stories have always evoked wonder in my imagination as a child, and so, I wanted to create my own personal interpretation of a few mythological creatures with respect to the traditions, symbology, and legends where they come from.” He adds, “For my piece ‘Of the Heavens’ [seen above], the first thing that came to mind was that of the Dragon, a creature that is prevalent throughout a lot of East Asian culture and often symbolic of power, fortune, and the divine. I wanted to create my own stylized interpretation of the Dragon, blessed with auspicious jade eyes and claws, alongside a noble Warrior.”
kelogsloops’ watercolor paintings often depict female portraiture, with anime influences from his upbringing, and draw inspiration from surreal and fantasy art styles. Since beginning his artistic career, he has worked and lived by his motto, “Be right back, chasing dreams.” The artist has exhibited throughout Australia and the U.S., as well as in Berlin. Fables marks kelogsloops’ second mini-solo show at CHG, following his series Haven (Dec. 2019).
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Robert Palacios has been interested in creating art since a very young age. Palacios’ work is marked by his vivid hues and engaging characters. That artist’s process starts with digesting his thoughts and memories from childhood, then sketching out his ideas to set the mood, before beginning to paint his colorful works. His characters and their surroundings are the focal point in his artwork. They are often put in humorous situations which people can usually relate to. Palacios likes to characterize his paintings as visual narratives of daily life, but with a comical twist.
Regarding his new series, titled Sugar and Spice, Palacios shares: “The title is based on the good and evil of my characters emotions and actions, displaying a visual narrative for the viewer. My works are full of vivid colors, dramatic shifts in scale, and interact details that come together in captivating compositions. My characters inhabit a dreamlike reality drawn from my own observation of modern life, featuring repurposed elements from everyday life reconfigured into new and unique forms. With a preference for symbols and elements that are both familiar and whimsical, I want the viewer to explore this delightful, surreal landscape and discover their own narrative within the unexpected juxtapositions. My work is both narrative and figurative, and clearly demonstrates how my meticulous attention to detail and my bold use of color bring my compositions to life in unexpected ways.”
Born and raised in Thailand’s province of Prachinburi, Tarntara Sudadung earned her bachelor’s degree in painting, sculpture, and graphic arts from Bangkok’s Silpakorn University in 2014. The pop surrealist artist presents her work using oil painting techniques. The softness of Sudadung’s brush strokes stands out in her work and is just one element of her high-level painting abilities. Influenced by her own intense emotions, childhood memories, dreams, and surreal fantasies, Sudadung is captivated by women’s unique beauty, as well as Eastern culture and ideology expressed in a contemporary style.
Regarding her new series, titled Red Hair Girl, Sudadung shares: “Throughout history, in some cultures, people with red hair were ostracized from society and event brutally murdered for looking ‘different.’ My piece featuring a red-haired girl [seen below] expresses her loneliness and isolation, during that moment between being awake and dreaming. It reflects the invisible line between reality and imagination in this contemporary world, which we choose to identify people only by nationality, blood, ethnicity, and education. It seems like the differences between people will never go away but change to a different form.”
Based in Nagoya, Japan, Yuka Sakuma is known for her delicate portrayals of young, adolescent women. Her works are a combination of ink and other materials on Japanese traditional paper, with natural pigments owing to her subdued palette. Her style has been described as neo-nihonga, a contemporary form of Nihonga, or Japanese painting aesthetic that uses all natural materials. On her portrayal of young women, Sakuma has shared, “There is a freshness and innocence in the body and action of girls, who are susceptible to a wide range of emotion. While their hearts are still not yet mature, they are cute and fragile. What is to be lost when becoming an adult, I find that to be truly endearing.” The artist has been profiled by several art publications, including Hi-Fructose and Beautiful Bizarre Magazine.
Regarding her new series, titled Lily, Sakuma shares: “The ‘little girl,’ the motif of my work, is no longer seen today as something fragile and to be protected, but rather as something superhuman, invincible, and the strongest. In the growing enthusiasm for idols, girls in anime, and other forms of Bishōjo (lit. ‘beautiful girl’) culture, people are not only admiring them as cute, but are also trusting their wishes and thoughts, and idolizing the existence of girls. What’s depicted in these new works is ‘a girl who descends with the hope of the near future.’”
Open to the public and free of charge, the four-artist show is set to debut on Saturday, June 3rd from 7:00 pm – 11:00 pm in CHG’s Gallery 3, alongside a solo show from Adrian Cox, titled The Brush and the Torch, in the Main Gallery.
Corey Helford Gallery
571 S Anderson St #1, Los Angeles, CA 90033, United States
