Students, faculty members and art goers gathered in The Eastern Star Gallery at Archer for Soo Kim’s show entitled “(RETURNING)” on Jan. 29, 2015. 

Los Angeles-based artist Kim earned her B.A. from the University of California, Riverside and her M.F.A. from the California Institute of Arts.

She resides in Los Angeles and teaches at the Otis College of Art and Design. Her work is currently being shown in a collection at the J. Paul Getty Museum, according to her bio on the Otis College website.

Archer Gallery teacher Chad Attie said that Kim is “one of the best artists working today. Her art is incredibly intricate and processed-based yet there’s a mystery to her artwork.”

“Her process starts with taking photos, then cutting out parts of the photo and overlapping them,” Gallery student Logan Connors ’17 said.

Many students were enthusiastic to work with the returning artist.

“She was super open to anything,” fellow Gallery student Alice Grainge ’17 said.

Connor nodded in agreement: “She was so nice and was interested in anything we suggested, so the process went super smoothly,” she said.

“I love when students have that kind of agency to have a student-run gallery and have the support to make those kind of decisions. The girls asked such great questions and it was amazing to see high schools students so engaged. The process was simply amazing,” Kim said.

Beaming restaurant, located in the Brentwood village, catered the event.