ELIAICHI KIMARO

As a queer, mixed-race daughter of immigrants ~ and now as a mother ~ I feel compelled to understand the stories I’ve inherited and the stories I’m passing down.  Over the past 40 years, I have used writing, music, photography, film, storytelling, and now mixed media art to explore my personal and family narratives.

For inspiration, I go where the energy is. Sometimes that looks like creatively exploring personal narratives. Other times, I’m more drawn to formal explorations of color, form and composition. I’ve been doing this long enough to notice that these cycles seem to be connected to the seasons.  In the Fall and Winter, I dive in deep and I paint my heart out. In the Spring and Summer, I rise to the surface and paint more from my head.  So my work breathes in and out of organic vs geometric, limited palettes vs rich color explosions; essentially, my creative process toggles between intellect and intuition. But with each successive year, I’m incorporating all that I’ve learned and the subsequent work, regardless of form, gets richer.

During the pandemic, I realized that making art is no longer an ‘if I have time’ matter for me. It has become as integral to my well-being as my daily writing practice. It is a must. Art helps me repair and restore the parts of my soul that are beyond the reach of words.