Michele Kong

Latis

Organized by the artist and the Samek Art Gallery

Michele Kong typically employs repetitive gestures with meticulous intricacy to create experiential environments that elicit pause and contemplation as a respite from the fast pace of contemporary life. Her newest installation, Latis, which will be sited in the Project Room, will be a confluence of drawn and sculptural elements that describe a shifting topography. For the project, Kong drew inspiration from mathematical models used to conceptualize space-time and studies of geological formations to create an abstracted landscape. Her work often shifts from micro to macro, collapsing boundaries between the physical and metaphysical. Maryland-based curator Jennie Fleming writes, "Kong’s work touches upon the cosmological, utilizing the power of sculpture to create a sense of place by physical presence ... that transports viewers either beyond earthly cares or, conversely, more deeply within themselves."

Michele Kong has exhibited extensively at venues including PS 1 Contemporary Art Center in Long Island City, N.Y.; Numark Gallery in Washington, D.C.; Maryland Art Place in Baltimore, Md.; Transformer Gallery in Washington, D.C.; and Emmanuel Gallery in Denver, Co. Recent solo exhibitions include the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts in Omaha in 2006 and at The Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts in Wilmington in 2007. She was the recipient of a Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant. Kong joined the Bucknell faculty in 2006 as assistant professor of art. She teaches sculpture in the Department of Art and Art History.