Give and Take

In their two-person show, Give and Take, artists Erin Lynn Welsh and Hyun Jung Ahn explore environmental and visual relationships. Both artists employ an abstract language to describe the interrelation between ourselves and our surroundings.

In Hyun’s minimalist paintings, shapes are sewn and painted into the canvas, creating a palpable tension that serves as an allegory to human connection and communication. Her selective use of color underscores the physical and visual balance of her shape-based compositions, and the sewn fabric’s physical boundary mirrors the painted geometries. This doubling effect is further accentuated by the diptych configuration of each set of paintings, the spatial relationship reflecting the perpetual call and response inherent within human relationships.

Welsh’s large-scale paintings capture California’s diverse terrain and explore our innate relationship with nature. Focusing specifically on Los Angeles, Welsh’s works explore the integration of nature in the urban metropolis and translate the experiential qualities of California’s varied ecosystems into expressive compositions. With a particular interest in color relationships, these paintings express the subtleties of each season: winter’s emerald green, early spring’s radiant yellow, late spring’s dusty lavender, and summer’s ochre and umber, with the California heat burning through its luscious foliage. These recorded colors are layered with and interpreted into, the artist’s own visions: fluorescent sunsets, pockets of vivid wildflowers, and Seussian evergreen cypress trees.

In these new paintings, Welsh’s maximalist landscape portraits and Hyun’s minimalist spatial renderings articulate the nuances of personal, societal, and environmental interactions. Both artists choose the language of abstraction, their diverse dialects, and varied vocabulary creating space for consideration in the unspoken dialogue between their works.

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