"An Optical Challenge"

Individuality gets blurred and the subjects can get all but inextricably incorporated into the background in Robert Louie's works, which are done in black and white. When dealing with two disparate colors, one which reflects the entire spectrum, the other which absorbs it, the slightest error is glaring, especially when a dizzying multitude of interdependent parts are involved. Louie is a scrupulous artist. With a watchmaker's precision and a chess grandmaster's vision and anticipation he arranges his numerous pieces: curved lines and barbed shapes one might find in a tribal tattoo.

When viewing Louie's heavily mythical compositions, one is challenged optically in a way that may make one wonder if something might be lurking around the aesthetic bend. The exploration and contemplation that art initiates rarely ever resolves, which can cause both awe and anxiety. Louie, through embedded messages, offers the satisfaction of conclusion. The integrated text is visually subtle, but semantically straight.

-Eugene Hwang