K. Imperial Fine Art is pleased to present its second exhibition, and first solo exhibition, of the work of Shingo Francis. "Color and Shadow" furthers his investigation into the nuances of what can be achieved with color and light, expanse, time, and space.

Francis’s installation work from the "Bound for Eternity" series closely resembling the horizon or the earth allows for a meditative experience. A line of colorfully painted gestures on oval-shaped support envelops the viewer by a band of color. In his "Infinite Space" series, he originates a painting space that has a sense of expansion and depth, the surface pervaded with a unique sense of light that is only possible with painting. This is realized through applying many layers of transparent mediums that are blended with pigment across the entire surface.

My work is an investigation into time, space and color. [It] gives the viewer a sense of scale in regards to our natural environment that surrounds us everyday, but can be lost in our daily preoccupations. The horizontal composition is a timeless image that represents not only the landscape, but a boundary where the horizon ends. A vanishing point of sights end and also of time. We are limited in space and time in that we can only experience one day at a time and be in one place at a time although we have created many instruments to simulate different times and places. Tools such as photographs freeze time and refer to the past, or the telephone, and internet to simulate concurrent places. These are tools with a purpose, but can have psychological and emotional hooks that can distract us from our present time and place. My works are a critique of the desire to be in more than one place at a time, and the inability to be in the present.

(Shingo Francis)

In this most recent body of work Francis utilizes translucent pigments that fluctuate and change, appear and disappear with every angle of light. It can only be fully experienced and contemplated in person. A physical and spatial relationship with the painting is integral to the work.

I want the painting to glow. Light reveals the unknown. We all have light within us, the potential to reveal who we are. One of the strengths of painting, or art in general, is the ability to transform, to affect people’s consciousness, to take them outside of the ordinary consciousness, at the same time affect them so much that they are given that spark.

(Shingo Francis)