She used a carbon printing technique, pressing a thin needle on carbon paper to create the delicate and imprecise lines that are crammed in next to each other, without any preconceived ideas about how they should look. This results in structures that grew organically, containing spaces that are dense with pigment balanced with spaces that are light and airy. And if you check out the works in person, you can see the delicate layers of tissue underneath the black lines. JRG has a lot of online content connected to the show, from an hour-long "virtual opening" with the artist to a digitized exhibition catalog featuring an essay, "Transformative Machines," by scholar and writer Sharon Arnold that carefully considers Van Someren's work. When viewing the prints myself this week, I found them to be quiet and meditative places to step into.
Kim Van Someren's The Slant of Line is up at J. Rinehart Gallery until September 12—don't miss it!