Lotus L. Kang: I hear the hollow boom of time
June 06 - September 27, 2026
Lotus L. Kang creates installations that respond to the spaces they inhabit and reveal the surprising possibilities of ‘misusing’ materials—specifically, the tools of photography. In her largest museum exhibition to date, she presents two major new installations alongside a series of works on paper, all developed in dialogue with the Frye Art Museum’s distinctive architecture.
Interweaving poetic reflections on memory, translation, and inheritance, Kang works iteratively, revisiting forms and materials across her artworks. For the Frye, she creates an installation featuring large sheets of unfixed industrial film that have been exposed to varied light sources in a process she calls “tanning,” likening the film’s sensitive surface to skin. Sculptures using tatami mats as their foundation punctuate the spaces between the suspended, cascading film sheets. Secondly, Kang will present a kinetic sculpture: evoking an enlarged ribcage, a rotating drum wrapped in celluloid film projects shifting bands of color and light throughout the gallery, its motion timed to a rhythmic score based on lines of poetry.
Together, these works embrace leaky boundaries—between inside and outside, life and death, deterioration and regeneration—exploring how we are continually shaped and transformed by the environments we move through.
This exhibition includes a room that features low light levels that may be disorienting. Please navigate the space with caution.
Lotus L. Kang: I hear the hollow boom of time is organized by Georgia Erger, Curator.
Generous support provided by Frye members. Media sponsorship provided by The Stranger.
Our work is supported, in part, by an award from 4Culture.
Installation view of Lotus L. Kang: I hear the hollow boom of time. Frye Art Museum, Seattle, June 6–September 27, 2026. Photo: Jueqian Fang
Lotus L. Kang. Molt (Toronto-Chicago-Woodridge-New York-Seattle-), 2022–25. Tanned and unfixed film (continually sensitive), cast aluminum kelp knots, spherical magnets, steel, aircraft cable, hardware. Dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artist and 52 Walker, New York. Installation view from Lotus L. Kang: I hear the hollow boom of time. Frye Art Museum, Seattle, June 6–September 27, 2026. Photo: Jueqian Fang
Installation view of Lotus L. Kang: I hear the hollow boom of time. Frye Art Museum, Seattle, June 6–September 27, 2026. Photo: Jueqian Fang
Lotus L. Kang. Azaleas III, 2026. Powder coated steel and aluminum, 35 mm film, stepper motor, relays, controllers, sound, stage lights, cables, upholstered wood base, cast aluminum anchovies, cast brass bronze anchovies, metallic twist tie, cast brass bronze cabbage leaves, cast pewter ear model, cast aluminum pear, cast plaster, ink, acrylic paint, polypropylene, mirrored tiles, aircraft cable, hardware, spirits. Dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artist; Franz Kaka, Toronto; Commonwealth and Council, Los Angeles; Esther Schipper, Berlin; and Kukje Gallery, Seoul. Installation view from Lotus L. Kang: I hear the hollow boom of time. Frye Art Museum, Seattle, June 6–September 27, 2026. Photo: Jueqian Fang
Lotus L. Kang. Azaleas III, 2026. Powder coated steel and aluminum, 35 mm film, stepper motor, relays, controllers, sound, stage lights, cables, upholstered wood base, cast aluminum anchovies, cast brass bronze anchovies, metallic twist tie, cast brass bronze cabbage leaves, cast pewter ear model, cast aluminum pear, cast plaster, ink, acrylic paint, polypropylene, mirrored tiles, aircraft cable, hardware, spirits. Dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artist; Franz Kaka, Toronto; Commonwealth and Council, Los Angeles; Esther Schipper, Berlin; and Kukje Gallery, Seoul. Installation view from Lotus L. Kang: I hear the hollow boom of time. Frye Art Museum, Seattle, June 6–September 27, 2026. Photo: Jueqian Fang