UCLA Journal of Radiation Oncology FALL 2023 - Flipbook - Page 18
"Fire in the Sky" Kim Cogan
continue to try to explain the world around them
to her and share his city—now her city, too. There
is a small drawing he hung in her room, a study
of the Doggy Diner sign, and she recognizes it
where it remains standing on Sloat just before
45th Avenue when they visit the zoo. When I
ask if she’ll paint too, he said that he paints with
her, and recently she gessoed a canvas (meaning
primed it to protect the canvas from the oil paint)
and thought it quite amazing.
series has. In “Banquet,” the edges blur into colors
and shapes, the way our peripheral vision does
when focusing on the activity in front of us. While
the face of the 昀椀gure dishing herself on the left is
obscured, all 昀椀ve 昀椀gures seem 昀氀uid, in motion,
with the unabashed and frenzied energy of candid
photos. As always, Kim’s attention to detail—how
light catches wine glasses and bottles, the facets
of the chandelier prisms, the tines on a fork, the
creases of the tablecloth—is exquisite, and the
brushwork ampli昀椀es the viewer’s sense of motion
and emotion.
Seeing Kim again is a reminder of how many
talented artists we knew in the Aughts gave
up after a failed exhibition or failing to land an
exhibition quickly. Kim told me that he’s always
believed there was a place for his work. He said,
“My paintings seem to stand out from other artists
in galleries that have shown my work because of
my unique perspective and approach to painting.”
It never mattered: Kim has always been both a
painter’s painter (meaning admired or envied
While he did not want to share the work for
his forthcoming exhibition, Kim said that he
continues to explore nostalgia within the City, on
the streets and overlooking the sweeping views
of the ocean, bridges, and Bay. I asked how he
thinks his daughter, now three, will a昀昀ect his
work, and he said, “She will de昀椀nitely in昀氀uence
paintings in the future.” This is because he will
18