{"id":96090,"date":"2025-09-09T07:38:52","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T14:38:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/?p=96090"},"modified":"2025-09-09T09:06:13","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T16:06:13","slug":"border-square-brings-curiosity-and-contrast-to-provo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/border-square-brings-curiosity-and-contrast-to-provo\/","title":{"rendered":"Border & Square Brings Curiosity and Contrast to Provo"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Gallery

Gallery view of Passing: Kheng Saik Lim and Kevin Hoertig at Border & Square in Provo. Image by Gina Cavallo.<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/h4>\n

For a gallery that only recently opened, Border & Square, just south of downtown Provo, feels like a classic gallery space. Set in the large open area between a small framing showroom and the back frame shop, the gallery has a comfortable, welcoming atmosphere, big white walls, and great lighting. Works are laid out well and they are accompanied by some of the best-designed labels I\u2019ve seen.<\/h4>\n

Gallery owner Kheng Saik Lim opened Border & Square a little over three months ago (though the framing business has been in his back garage for several years) and has held three shows in the space so far. \u201cWhen I first got to Provo to go to BYU,\u201d shares Lim, \u201cthere really weren\u2019t any galleries.\u201d The artist and framer wanted to create a space where other artists could share their work. In a short time, he seems to have done just that and done it well.<\/h4>\n

This month his own paintings are featured alongside work by Kevin Hoertig. Sans<\/em> a full curatorial panel, the exhibition opens with a brief thematic statement:<\/h4>\n

Passing<\/em><\/h4>\n

A contemplation of movement<\/em>
\nthrough space.<\/em>
\nExploring reality\u2019s shifting<\/em>
\ntides and alternate states;<\/em>
\nconsider the world beyond reach.<\/em><\/h4>\n
\n
\"Painting

Kevin Hoertig, \u201cTraveler\u201d, oil on canvas<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Kevin Hoertig\u2019s oil paintings reflect an interest in those alternate states and a fascination with nature and mysticism. His human and animal forms hover in a mist of white and seem to be otherworldly creatures. They have a certain 1970s mystical air as well as a spark of danger in their presence. \u201cCommunion\u201d and \u201cTraveler\u201d are prime examples of this.<\/h4>\n

Kheng Saik Lim\u2019s larger paintings are interspersed with Hoertig\u2019s on the walls. His work reflects the “movement through” space aspect of the theme. It is also very personal, narrated by artist statements that share stories of his childhood and personal experiences that influenced each painting.<\/h4>\n

\u201cA Patch of Lush, Wet Grass\u201d includes a memory:\u2028\u2028\u201cAs a boy I saw a dead animal decomposing in a field of grass. I noticed the grass (was) especially lush and green where the carcass lay. Ever since then, lush grass and deep rich soil have become a symbol of death and regeneration to me.\u201d<\/h4>\n

The choice of a sharply bright green against a deep black creates great contrast while somehow also creating a false effect of thick impasto. But the patterning\u2014grass and tiny white flowers meandering upward from a black base\u2014implies movement and escape. The scale of the painting feels life-size, bringing you into the artist\u2019s path as he moves away from a childhood fear.<\/h4>\n

A similar piece, \u201cLying Close to the Ground at Dusk\u201d is monochromatically black with tiny white specks that, as you look down the painting, appear star-like, though they are meant to be the same white flowers in the grass. This piece\u2019s subtle imagery fits the artist\u2019s intent to reflect the experience of a grassy field just before night rises. His reflection on this work includes a reference to death (\u201cThis image brings me back to a particular time in my early childhood when I became aware that one day I would not exist anymore\u201d), but despite that and the dark palette, the work has a glow and sparkle that is engaging.<\/h4>\n

The strongest piece in the show is \u201cOne Foggy Morning.\u201d A black, bird-like form plummets from above, suspended on what appears to be a wire, with white smoke trailing its path. A white-washed box (perhaps a fireplace or a room within a room) has an open passageway that inexplicably casts a black shadow on the brown marble floor. The artist admits his uncertainty in the label\u2019s description:<\/h4>\n
\n
\"Painting

Kheng Saik Lim, \u201cOne Foggy Morning\u201d, oil on canvas<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t even know what that falling object is, but I wanted it to be an object of chaos in an otherwise pristine space. I feel that all the black items in the painting are different aspects of the same element.\u201d<\/h4>\n

Though there is a surface darkness to the works by both Kheng Saik Lim and Kevin Hoertig, the overarching feeling of the exhibition is exploratory and curious. The bright ambience of the gallery space may contribute to that, reminding us that these are not real creatures or spaces, but evidence of internal questions and emotional responses to nature and everyday life. Lim\u2019s work in particular is worth watching as is the gallery at Border & Square.<\/h4>\n

Passing: Kheng Saik Lim and Kevin Hoertig<\/em>, Border and Square<\/a>, Provo, through September 31.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For a gallery that only recently opened, Border & Square, just south of downtown Provo, feels like a classic gallery space. Set in the large open area between a small framing showroom and the back frame shop, the gallery has a comfortable, welcoming atmosphere, big white walls, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1736,"featured_media":96091,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-96090","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exhibition_reviews","category-visual_arts"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_0228-scaled.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-24 08:06:45","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96090","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1736"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96090"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96090\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":96098,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96090\/revisions\/96098"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}