Laura Kina

Laura Kina Aloha Dreams Artist Statement

Kina’s mixed media paintings explore dreams of paradise. Like the Post-Impressionist painter Paul Gauguin’s paintings of Tahiti, Laura Kina’s Aloha Dreams uses Hawai’i as a tropical muse to explore pattern, color, figuration
and abstraction. Beyond the gloss and allure of palm trees and plate lunch, the works in this exhibition delve into a more complicated history using images from popular culture, textile design, and Kina’s own family history as sugar cane plantation workers on the Big Island of Hawaii to focus on immigration/migration, heritage tourism and Orientalist fantasies.

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Tina Hyun Giving Me A Pedicure Acrylic on canvas 40x30 in. 2006 Private collection Suquamish, WA

Raising Cane Oil on canvas 40x30 in. 2007 Private collection Poulsbo, WA

Hana-hana
Oil on canvas
40x30 in. 2008

Michelle Tucker Dying My Hair Acrylic on canvas 40x30 in. 2007

Hanahana Oil on canvas 40"x30" 2007 Private collection Poulsbo, WA

Diamond Head Acrylic, Envirotex on panel 14 x 18 in. 2007

Ewa Beach Sunset Acrylic, Envirotex on panel 14 x 18 in. 2007 Private collection Washington DC

Me and Joe at Paradise Cove Acrylic, glitter, Envirotex on panel 14 x 18 in. 2006

Mequitta Ahuja Acrylic and glitter on canvas 27 x 48 in. 2006

Sam Acrylic, glitter and origami paper on canvas 27 x 48 in. 2006 Private collection Washington DC

Flowers for Your Heart Acrylic and ink on paper 9 panels 30x30 in. each 2003 and 2007

Ocean View Inn Oil on wood panel 30" x 30" 2008

Piihonua Oil on wood panel 30" x 30" 2008 Private collection Chicago, IL

Aloha Dreams: Tabu Oil on wood panel 30x30 in. 2007

Aloha Dreams: Matson Enamel on wood panel 30x30 in. 2007

Aloha Dreams: Porthole Oil and colored pencil on wood panel 30x30 in. 2007

Aloha Dreams: Pearl Harbor Oil on wood panel 30x30 in. 2007

Aloha Dreams: Over the Rainbow Enamel, acrylic and colored pencil on wood panel 30x30 in. 2007 Private collection Chicago, IL

Aloha Dreams: Loco Moco Acrylic on wood panel 30x30 in. 2007 Private collection Chicago, IL

Mishpoche Acrylic enamel on MDF, polyurethane, tatami mats, slippers 145 x 147 in. 2004-2005 (destroyed 2007)