Essay
Lost + Found by Michael Friebele, Assoc. AIA
is of a bustling metropolis, ripe with new development and bright lights. Long-term residents see something else: a landscape rich and layered with checkered stories and memories of years gone by. This nuanced perspective — equal parts memory and observation — is captured vividly in the work of Dallas native Kim Cadmus Owens. Owens’ “Lost + Found” series reflects the artist’s interest in the digital realm as a means of representation and recollection. It also speaks to the importance she places on witnessing moments that we often, and quickly, pass by. “As I revisit sites within what I think of as my hometown, I continually discover and witness rapid development and change,” Owens says. “I
PHOTO BY KEVIN TEDORA COURTESY KIM OWENS.
An outsider’s view of Dallas
have often found myself at an intersection and felt as if I knew I was in the right location — but something was missing; what I had used in the past as a navigational landmark was gone.” Creation of the “Lost + Found” series began with hand drawings and photographs taken of each physical site, nine in total. Owens began with the “Alamo Plaza Hotel Courts,” a motel that once existed along the western leg of Commerce Street. She then converted each image and drawing through a process that transformed a vector image into layers of color separation. This separation is apparent throughout the finished work in layers of colored lines. After converting the images to acrylic plates, Owens used a letterpress to scribe each layer onto cotton paper. “The use of color and focus on figure/ground in the positive/negative spaces emphasizes architectural profiles, or ‘silhouettes,’ embodied by voids, which are
Owens’ work reflects the changing urban enviornment. An image of the Old Dallas High School represents the long-vacant struture as a void, ornamented only by its boardedup windows.
7/8 2015
Texas Architect 29