Art student starts Seattle exhibit June 7

Laurel Kam, a senior student in Western Washington University’s Department of Art, will present her solo exhibition “Puncture” from June 7-30 at the Angle Gallery at 312 South Washington St. in Seattle’s Tashiro-Kaplan building.

An opening reception will be held at the gallery from 5- 9 p.m. on Thursday, June 7, during Seattle’s Art Walk; the exhibition and opening reception are both free and open to the public.

“Puncture” features Kam’s perforated portraits, which explore how visual information is used to create an individual’s personality.

Kam perforates patterns into the portraits with needles to create a Braille-like texture, altering the physical landscape of the surface to recontextualize the way the person is viewed. The patterns become signifiers; viewers must look through the pattern to see the portrait.

Kam grew up in Steilacoom and was in the third graduating class at the Tacoma School of the Arts. She will graduate in June from Western with a bachelor’s degree in Photography.

“Puncture” will run from June 7-30 and can be viewed from noon to 5 p.m. on Wednesday through Saturday, or by appointment.

For more information, please visit www.cargocollective.com/laurelkam.