October 2012: Kim Lakin & Nicky Falkenhayn

Kim Lakin works with fiber as her medium for its tactile and sculptural qualities. “For me, fiber is the line between two and three dimension,” says Kim. “My work is created in two dimension, but it has three-dimensional aspects in the quilted stitching line, the natural wrinkling and subtle puckering of the fabric. The near impossibility of making a straight line appeals to me and yet at the same time, it is aggravating.” She is drawn to opposites and contrasts. Her interest in the soft malleable quality of fabric is in direct contrast to her interest in geometry and architecture. This dichotomy is expressed in her work through the tentative balance between the hard edge and the soft edge, the painterly and the graphic.

Nicky Falkenhyn‘s work combines heavy welded steel structures with plate glass or knitted wire accents.   Rusty Cor-ten steel (also called weathering steel) and stacked cut glass are her favorite materials for their elegant natural colors. “I truly enjoy molten metal sparks flying about when welding or grinding and figuring out the engineering of a sculpture is equally satisfying to me, says Nicky. She also likes the introduction of rust and gold to a piece. A few will be arch like shaped, abstract forms with a message of touching, bridging, connecting and caring. “Simplicity, grace and harmony in its environmental space are what I strive for in my work. Inspired by the positive and the negative that weaves through our lives, I give viewers an opportunity to connect or contemplate their own thoughts and emotions.”