Transforming Trauma Into Art

Activism, creativity, family, Film, inspiration, Narrative, Origin story, podcast, press, process, Speaking, Story

I was recently a guest on the Future Tripping Podcast, a project of the Trauma Stewardship Institute. The host, Laura van Dernoot Lipsky, is an author/activist, an internationally recognized leader in the field of trauma exposure ~ and one of my dearest friends for the past 30+ years! As such, she holds all the pieces of my personal, family, work and creative life. At its core, our conversation reveals the depth and breadth of “making art to better understand my cultural inheritance and legacy,” and shows why art – the creation and maintenance of it – can be an essential act of liberation.💗

Making Peace with Uncertainty

creativity, process, Speaking

I had the joy of talking with a dear friend the other day on her podcast (more info soon!) And as it often does, our conversation sparked further thoughts and ideas. So I’m trying something new. I will be posting short videos ~ a parking lot of thoughts/ideas about art and life, and why creativity (in its myriad of forms) matters…

Winter/Spring Art News…

Art For Sale, collaboration, creativity, education, Exhibition, Gallery, inspiration, Narrative, Origin story, process, Speaking, Story

Just published my Newsletter with updates on 1) creative collaborations with filmmakers, authors, musicians & chefs, 2) my foray into teaching, and 3) shows in venues around town.

You can click the Subscribe button at the top of the page if you would like receive my newsletters (I send out 2-3 a year).

“Composing a Life” – Acrylic mixed media on 24″x 24″ wood shipping panel.

Speaker ~ Pricing Your Artwork webinar

Art For Sale, collaboration, process, Speaking, Story

Online Conversation with Eliaichi Kimaro & Shalene Valenzuela
Wednesday, March 9, 6-7pm PST

FREE with Advance Registration: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAod-Gvrz0rGNATDbbx2- JD1pXhLE-Y7hWQ

Mini Confabs & MAC Speaks Series: Conversations BY artists FOR artists. The Robert B. McMillen Foundation in collaboration with Gallery One and Allied Arts of Whatcom County are hosting conversation, skillbuilding and networking opportunities FOR artists BY artists.

Do you struggle with pricing your work? Set the price too low and you could leave money on the table, set the price too high and your artwork could start stacking up in your studio. How do you find the sweet spot that ensures you are getting paid fairly for your work? How do you deal with gallery commissions vs direct sales out of your studio, and what about reproductions? It looks different for each artist. Join us for a conversation and hear how two artists tackle this topic!

. . . . .

UPCOMING SPEAKERS:

Friday, March 25th – 6:30-8pm PST via Zoom
Demo/Artmaking
Mask Making with Jen Angaiak Wood

Thursday, April 21st – 7-8:30pm PST via Zoom
Teatime with Timea Tihanyi
Conversation topic: Object Permanence: Craft in the Digital Age

Interview about art & process

family, Narrative, Speaking, Story

Today I had the pleasure of talking with Deborah Kapoor about my art and process. Our recorded conversation will be used in her college art class in the section called “Layering with Paint: Home/Addressing the Personal to Global.”

This was a first for me, talking about my creative process and how I use art to examine the stories I’ve inherited and the stories I’m passing down about who I am and where I come from. I’m so grateful to be included in Deborah’s line up of Seattle artists that she is interviewing for her class.

Winter/Spring 2020 News

Exhibition, Film, Gallery, Narrative, Speaking, Story

Just posted my Winter/Spring 2020 Newsletter which provided the following list of upcoming art shows and film screenings. If you’re interested in subscribing, click here to view it and select “Subscribe” in the top/left corner. (I send out 2-3 newsletters a year).

Upcoming Art Exhibits:

THE CLOUD ROOM
“Showing Signs of Wear”
Solo Show
March 2020
Opening Reception & Artist Talk: March 12, 6-9pm
Capitol Hill Art Walk
* This gorgeous space includes a bar,
so this will be a 21+ event.

ART XCHANGE GALLERY
“Sense Us 2020”
Juried Group Show
March-April 2020
Opening Reception: March 5, 5-8pm
Second Reception: April 2, 5-8pm
Pioneer Square Art Walk

CENTER ON CONTEMPORARY ART (COCA) GALLERY
“20/20 Vision“: Juried Member Show
Nichole DeMent (Juror)
March-April 2020
Opening Reception: March 5, 6-9pm
Pioneer Square Art Walk

COLUMBIA CITY GALLERY
Featured Artist
May-June 2020
Opening Reception: May 16, 5-7pm

CONFLUENCE GALLERY
Twisp, WA
“The Stories We Tell”
August 29 – October 5, 2020
Fall Art Walk & Studio Tour

*Please note, you can see my art year round at Columbia City Gallery.

Continue reading →

My Life in 24 Frames – Press release

Activism, Exhibition, Narrative, Speaking, Story

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 15, 2018
Contact: Eliaichi Kimaro
Email: ekimaro@9elephants.org
Phone: 206.779.2653

MY LIFE IN 24 FRAMES

PopUp Exhibit & Artist Talk explores being a queer, mixed-race, Black-skinned daughter of immigrants in today’s America

Seattle, WA – Local artist, Eliaichi Kimaro will be presenting the latest paintings in her encaustic mixed media series, “My Life in 24 Frames” on Tuesday, October 23 from 6-7:30pm at Columbia City Gallery. At 6:30pm, there will be a brief talk where the artist will share the inspiration behind these paintings.

“My Life in 24 Frames examines what it means to be living in my skin, in my body, in this country, at this moment in time…”
~Eliaichi Kimaro

Eliaichi has lectured around the world, engaging audiences in conversations about how our experiences of gender, culture, and trauma shape our sense of identity and belonging. Eliaichi uses every media necessary to explore the stories she has inherited, and the stories she is passing down; and her creations invite us all to consider where we stand in the flow of cultural inheritance and legacy. Over the years, her lens has shifted — from her father’s Tanzanian/Chagga culture (in her 2011 film, A Lot Like You) to her mother’s Korean culture (in her 2017 multi-media installation, The Truth Has No Borders), and now to her own US culture with My Life in 24 Frames.

A Lot Like You won 6 Best Documentary Awards. The journey of her film culminated in her TEDxSeattle talk, Why The World Needs Your Story. Last year, Eliaichi was the Artist-in-Residence for COCA’s Storefronts [UN]Contained Residency, and in 2018, she was the recipient of the Artist Trust Fellowship, the CityArtist Grant through Seattle’s Office of Arts & Culture, and a scholarship from the International Encaustic Association.

Eliaichi has served on numerous non-profit Boards, art grant panels, film festival juries, museum exhibition planning committees, and advisory committees. She is a member artist at Columbia City Gallery and the Center on Contemporary Art Gallery, and a juried member of the City of Seattle’s Ethnic Artist Roster.

“My Life in 24 Frames”
Columbia City Gallery
4864 Rainier Ave. S.,
Seattle, WA 98118
Tuesday, October 23, 2018, 6-7:30pm
6-7:30: Public exhibit of new paintings
6:30: Artist Talk

EVENT IS FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Eliaichi Kimaro (https://elikimaro.com/) is an award-winning filmmaker and artist who finds beauty in the rusty, weathered and worn. She loves the stories that scars hold ~ and feels compelled to take those stories of struggle, resistance, and survival, and turn them into something beautiful to behold.

This project is made possible thanks to the generous support of the
2018 CityArtist Grant from Seattle’s Office of Arts & Culture.

# # #

Upcoming exhibit & talk

Exhibition, Narrative, Speaking, Story

Please join me for this public pop-up exhibit of my series, “My Life in 24 Frames.”

The most recent eight paintings in this series (created this year) explore how our humanity ~ our well-being and our suffering ~ is inextricably linked. Who we are, and how we live on this Earth, matters. Our death sustains and enables new life. And generations, like tides, continue to build on what came before.

Water is Life. Life is breath. Death births Life. Everything is Connected.

The Artist Talk will start at 6:30. I will share the inspiration and the stories behind these paintings, and then see where the conversation goes from there…

Eliaichi Kimaro
CityArtist Grant – Public Exhibit and Artist Talk
“MY LIFE IN 24 FRAMES”
Tuesday Oct. 23 from 6-7:30pm
Columbia City Gallery
4864 Rainier Ave S., Seattle 98118

This project was made possible in part with the generous support of the 2017 CityArtist Grant from Seattle’s Office of Arts & Culture.

OAC_logo[blue-rgb]

Fall/Winter 2018 – Upcoming Art Shows/Events

Exhibition, Speaking

As the summer heats up, I’ve been busy working on commission projects and preparing for upcoming shows in the Fall/Winter. If you’re in Seattle, I hope you can join me at one of these. It would be lovely to see you!!!

AUGUST 2: SHIFT GALLERY INVITATIONAL EXHIBIT

I will be Stephanie Hargrave‘s “Plus One” at this upcoming invitational during next month’s First Thursday Pioneer Square Art Walk!!! (show runs through Aug. 25.) As a longtime superfan of Stephanie’s art for years, I am beyond excited to be showing alongside her! *swoon*

Opening Reception
SHIFT GALLERY INVITATIONAL EXHIBIT
312 S. Washington St., Seattle 98104
August 2 from 5-9pm

. . . . .

AUGUST 3: NURTURE

Delighted to be teaming up once again with 5 artist friends to exhibit our encaustic mixed media work at Johnston Architects, as part of the Fremont Art Walk.

Opening Reception: NURTURE
Johnston Architects
100 NE Northlake Way, Suite 200
August 3 from 6-9pm

. . . . .

SEPTEMBER 12: ARTIST TRUST INVITATIONAL POP-UP MARKET

Excited to be one of 20 artists invited to participate in this outdoor pop-up art market presented by Artist Trust in partnership with Amazon. I will be selling works with a range of price points (and premiering my original oil/cold wax paintings on paper) — so hopefully, there will be something for everyone…

Amazon Pop-Up Art Show
September 12 from 10-2
Amazon Van Vorst Plaza (South Lake Union)

. . . . .

SEPTEMBER 21-22: COCA 24-HOUR ART MARATHON

I’ve just been invited to be a Marathon Artist for the Center on Contemporary Art’s 26th Annual Marathon & Auction!! Over 20 artists will spend 24 hours painting, drawing, constructing, spraying, waxing, sculpting, writing, etc. to bring into existence nearly 100 works of art. These works will be auctioned off in silent and live auctions starting at 5:30pm on Saturday, Sept. 22. Artists get 50% of the sale price.

COCA ART MARATHON & AUCTION
The Summit
420 E. Pike St. (Capitol Hill).
Friday, September 21 at 10am: Art Marathon starts
Saturday, September 22 at 5:30: Silent & Live Art Auction

. . . . .

OCTOBER 23: CITY ARTIST GRANT – ART SHOW & TALK

I received a 2018 City Artist Grant from Seattle’s Office of Arts & Culture to produce 6-8 new paintings and to do an artist talk about this new work.

My Life in 24 Frames (show & talk)
Columbia City Gallery
Tue Oct. 23 from 6-7:30 (talk at 6:30)

. . . . .

NOVEMBER 8: NW ENCAUSTIC 10th ANNIVERSARY GROUP SHOW

To celebrate their 10th Anniversary, Northwest Encaustic Studio (http://nwencaustic.com/) is planning an exhibit (and book!) to showcase the work of students who have taken classes at the studio over the past decade. I’m delighted to included in this show! Opening reception will be part of West Seattle Art Walk, and the show will be up through the month of November.

Opening Reception
Northwest Encaustic Studio
7150 44th Avenue SW, Seattle 981336
November 8, 2018 from 6-9pm

. . . . .

ONGOING: COLUMBIA CITY GALLERY

My art is also on display year-round at Columbia City Gallery. If you’re in the neighborhood, please stop in and take a look!

Gallery hours: Wed-Sun 11-7
New exhibits every 6 weeks…

EMERGE: The Journey is Everything

Activism, Exhibition, Narrative, Speaking, Story

Emerge: The Journey is Everything

For me, the journey is everything. I am far more interested in the process of becoming than I am in the final state of being. The journey is dynamic, energetic – constantly evolving, transforming and expanding. While creating, I exist in a suspended state of not-knowing. I open myself up to what my painting is showing me, and then intuitively respond to it. This dialogue of discovery is what I crave.

As a self-taught artist and creative storyteller, I am constantly reinventing myself, learning whatever medium it takes to tell the story that is emerging. Over the past 40 years, I have used writing, music, photography, film, storytelling, and now encaustics to explore my personal/family narrative.

The paintings in this show hang together loosely. They demonstrate new directions I am exploring in my work (using mark-making, texture, and organic materials to tell a story.) Some of these pieces came into being fully-formed. Some were labors of love, with 2-3 completely different paintings living beneath the surface. And still others have yet to find their final form.

While I am in love with the current incarnation of these paintings, I know some will be radically transformed when they return to my studio – melted, scraped down, carved into, painted over. But as a lover of process, I believe that even our evolving selves deserve an occasional spotlight…to be seen, witnessed and lovingly considered in our current form.

The EMERGE show at the Columbia City Gallery (Seattle) is currently exhibiting through Sunday, May 13.

The most consistent comment I’m hearing about this body of work is that these are pieces that need to be seen live and up close. So if you’re in the Columbia City neighborhood, please stop by! (Gallery hours: Wed-Sun, 11-7).