Laura Kina

Artist


March 26 – May 6, 2023
Riverside Art Center

A figure lies in bed in a dark room looking at the sunset out of a high-rise window. Light is refracting through a globe sending rays of sun across the room.
Over the Rainbow, One More Time, 2022, Acrylic and charcoal on canvas, 36” x 48”
PURCHASE HERE
PURCHASE CATALOGUE
CATALOGUE PREVIEW


The Riverside Arts Center is pleased to present Over the Rainbow, One More Time, a solo exhibition of paintings and mixed media art by Laura Kina in our Freeark Gallery, curated by Gallery Director, Joanne Aono.


Opening Reception: Sunday, March 26, 2023, 3:00-6:00 PM
Afterwards, join us for a private happy hour across the street at the Quincy Street Distillery.

Exhibition Dates: March 26 – May 6, 2023

On View: Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, 1:00 – 5:00 PM

Artist Talk: Saturday, April 22, 2023, 2:00 PM

Exhibition Catalogue: Will be available for purchase at the gallery and online


Over the Rainbow, One More Time is about starting over. It’s about grief and life in the after. Conceived during the Covid-19 pandemic, in the wake of surviving breast cancer, the end of a 25-year-long marriage, and coming out as queer, Laura Kina’s art traces her journey and memories through trauma into wellness and the unknown. The exhibition takes its title from a throwaway phrase her Zumba instructor Michiko shouted in class one day as she waved her arms in a large arch as the class jumped in unison from side to side while listening to Iz Kamakawiwoʻole’s version of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”

Presenting images of a world gone askew, my paintings find beauty and hope in moments of complete collapse from the isolation of my sickbed, chemo bay, the bathroom floor, and emergency room. My installation “Homeostasis” accumulates objects, photographs, and paintings from my cancer journey, the psych ward, losing my home, and temporary separation from my child. But even here there are glimmers of love and compassion from the friends, family, colleagues, and healthcare workers who helped save me. My ancestors manifest as Okinawan shisa lions standing sentry and roaring back to protect me. In “Cancer: Call and Response,” rage paired with humor fuels text works addressing my divorce and abuse. My short story “Beauty on the Edge” is accompanied by three paintings set in my parents’ Pacific Northwest backyard at a long-awaited summer 2022 family reunion — a giant fir tree against the night sky, my nephew Ryo jumping on a trampoline suspended in the air, and a view of roasting a marshmallow over a campfire. Together, they tell a multiracial Asian American family history reflecting on the transitory nation of our existence in the vast universe and connection across generations past, present, and future. Magic hour sunrises and sunsets mark time passing as life goes on, if we are lucky, one more time.


RIVERSIDE ARTS CENTER
32 E. Quincy St
Riverside, IL 60546
email: info@riversideartscenter.com
phone: 708-442-6400
Gallery Hours Thursday, Friday, Saturday: 1:00-5:00pm
Closed Sunday – Wednesday, Holidays, and during exhibition installation.


This is a text-based painting. On the left side are hurtful words the artist experienced during her divorce and cancer journey. On the right side are the artist’s defiant responses.
Cancer: Call and Response, 2022, Acrylic and mixed media (tassel pastie, feathers, googly eyes, and rhinestones) on Legion Stonehenge paper, 104”x 82” (12 panels 22” x 30” each)
The word Queer is painted in white and bedazzled with multicolored rhinestones. The Q has googly eyes and is drinking an avocado bubble tea. There is a rainbow pattern in the background.
Queer Detail, Cancer: Call and Response, 2022
The word "Cancer Capitalism" is painted in black cursive and hooks around two googly eye/nipples on a pair of winged floating boobs. The background is painted pink.
Cancer Capitalism Detail, Cancer: Call and Response, 2022
The word "Care" is painted in pink bubble letters and fills up this black panel. The "C" hugs the letters "ARE".
Care Detail, Cancer: Call and Response, 2022
A black inked shisa lion roars against a red background.
Shisa Lion Detail, Cancer: Call and Response, 2022
The word trauma is dashed across a black washed background. The final letter "A" is painted below the "M" because you can never plan ahead for trauma and it doesn't fit on the page.
Trauma Detail, Cancer: Call and Response, 2022
Sunlight shines through a hospital exam room window and reflects on the sky and clouds on tan vinyl floor. The exam table, 2 chairs, and the exam counter are visible.
Exam Room, 2022, Acrylic and charcoal on Legion Stonehenge paper
mounted on birch panel, 30”x 22”
The artist’s feet form a small hill under the turquoise covers at the end of her cancer sick bed. This is a painting looking at the filtered afternoon sunlight coming through the window of her bedroom. A dark wood ceiling fan is at the top of the painting.
Sick Bed, 2022, Acrylic and charcoal on Legion Stonehenge
paper mounted on birch panel, 30”x 22”
A golden hour sunset is visible through a hospital chemo bay window. The artist’s sneakers poke out from under a hospital blanket. The room has 2 green hospital chairs and 2 white pillows on top of counter.
Chemo Bay, 2022, Acrylic and charcoal on Legion Stonehenge paper
mounted on birch panel, 30”x 22”
This is a dark blue/black painting of an ER room with a monitor and tubes. A full moon takes the place of a clock in this surreal 2am scene.
ER, 2022, Acrylic and charcoal on Legion Stonehenge paper
mounted on birch panel, 30”x 22”
PURCHASE HERE
The artist’s 5-year-old nephew Ryo is picture bouncing on a trampoline suspended high in the hair. Sunlight streams through the Pacific Northwest Forest behind him.
Can You See Me, Auntie Laura?, 2022, Acrylic and charcoal on
Legion Stonehenge paper mounted on birch panel, 30”x 22”
This is a painting of a marshmallow being roasted over a camp fire.
S’more Nightcap, 2022, Acrylic and charcoal on Legion Stonehenge paper
mounted on birch panel, 30”x 22”
The edge of a giant fir tree is barely visible against the indigo black night sky.
Beauty on the Edge (Big Fir Tree in My Parents’ Backyard), 2022, Acrylic and charcoal
on Legion Stonehenge paper mounted on birch panel, 30”x 22”
PURCHASE HERE
This installation features photographs, paintings, and artifacts from the artist’s journey through traumatic events related to her cancer, coming out, divorce, and losing her home.
Homeostasis, 2023, Mixed media installation, dimensions variable approx. 87” wide x 84” high, 16” deep
This is a detail shot of Homeostasis. The Campbell House painting is at the bottom, a photo of a pre-pandemic kitchen bulletin board is in the center, and a photo of the artist's chiild Midori looking out a window is at the top.
Detail, Homeostasis, 2023
A back porch patio scene at night. Snow is piled on a patio table with a red umbrella and two chairs. String lights circle the scene.
Campbell House (Pandemic online instruction demo painting),
2021, Acrylic on canvas panel framed, 11”x14”
House plants are featured on a window sill. Two potted plants are in the foreground. A sunset is visible through the window and casts a long shadow across the room.
Golden Hour with Plants (Pandemic online instruction demo painting),
2022, 20”x16”, Acrylic on canvas panel framed
PURCHASE HERE
Collapse, 2023, Acrylic and charcoal on canvas panel framed, 16”x20”
PURCHASE HERE


Installation Photos


Riverside Art Center (2023)

  • 1. Photo by YoungSun Choi
  • 2. Photo by YoungSun Choi
  • 3. Photo by YoungSun Choi
  • 4. Photo by YoungSun Choi
  • 5. Photo by YoungSun Choi
  • 6. Photo by YoungSun Choi
  • 7. Photo by YoungSun Choi
  • 8. Photo by YoungSun Choi
  • 9. Photo by YoungSun Choi
  • 10. Photo by YoungSun Choi
  • 11. Photo by YoungSun Choi


Opening Reception (March 26, 2023)

  • 1. Photo by Joanne Aono
  • 2. Photo by Joanne Aono
  • 3. Photo by Joanne Aono
  • 4. Photo by Joanne Aono
  • 5. Opening Reception
  • 6. Opening Reception
  • 7. Opening Reception
  • 8. Opening Reception
  • 9. Opening Reception
  • 10. Opening Reception


Back to Artwork