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'''Beginning to put together final update of Laura Kina's page with Jaici and Jianning'''[[User:Bcrant|Bcrant]] ([[User talk:Bcrant|talk]]) 19:01, 29 March 2015 (UTC)

'''Added contributions from Mike and Bree to working version of Laura Kina's Page'''[[User:Bcrant|Bcrant]] ([[User talk:Bcrant|talk]]) 21:05, 30 March 2015 (UTC)

---------------this is from begininning of assignment, ignore ----------

I will be working on improving [[Laura_Kina|Laura Kina's Wikipedia page]] for the next couple of months as an assignment for [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_Program:Indiana_University/CMLT_C147_East_and_West:_Images_of_the_Self_%28Spring_2015%29 CMLT-C 147 East and West: Images of Self].

Kina's page lists some of her art work, but does not list her academic literature with the exception of a brief mention of "War Baby/Love Child: Mixed Race Asian American Art". I have found a few other works that would be worth noting under the heading "Critical Mixed Race Studies", her essay written for the Mixed Heritage Center, [http://www.mixedheritagecenter.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=880 "Mixed Heritage Art"] would be a strong addition to the article. As I continue to find more of her literature, collaborations, and pertinent interviews it may be a possibility to create an entire list of these works similarly to how her art is listed on the page. 19:25, 18 February 2015 (UTC)

(I don't know where this came from)
West, Cornel. "The New Cultural Politics of Difference", The Humanities as Social Technology. October, Vol. 53 (Summer, 1990), pp.&nbsp;93–109. Pub. MIT Press

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{{Orphan|date=January 2011}}

{{Infobox artist
| honorific_prefix = 
| name             = Laura Kina<!-- include middle initial, if not specified in birth_name -->
| honorific_suffix = 
| image            =|thumb|A photo of Laura Kina taken by Chien Yuan in 2010. <!-- just the pagename, without the File:/Image: prefix or [[brackets]] --> {{OTRS pending |year= |month= |day= }}
| image_size       = 
| alt              = 
| caption          = 
| native_name      = 
| native_name_lang = 
| birth_name       = <!--only use if different from name-->
| birth_date       = 1973<!-- {{Birth date and age|YYYY|MM|DD}} for living artists, {{Birth date|YYYY|MM|DD}} for dead -->
| birth_place      = Riverside, California
| death_date       = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} --> 
| death_place      =
| resting_place    = 
| resting_place_coordinates = <!-- {{Coord|LAT|LONG|type:landmark|display=inline}} -->
| nationality      = Okinawan and Spanish-Basque/Anglo
| education        = MFA Studio Art from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2001
| alma_mater       = 
| known_for        = 
| notable_works    = Blue Hawaii, Sugar, A Many-Splendored Thing, Aloha Dreams, Loving, Hapa Soap Operas
| style            = Pop Art
| movement         = 
| spouse           = 
| awards           = <!-- {{awd|award|year|title|role|name}} (optional) -->
| elected          = 
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| memorials        = 
| website          = http://www.laurakina.com/index.html <!-- {{URL|Example.com}} -->
| module           =
}}

'''Laura Kina''' (born 1973) is an artist, academic and important contributor to the emergent field of Critical Mixed Race Studies.
Kina was born in Riverside, CA. and raised in [[Poulsbo]], WA. She moved to Chicago, IL. in 1991 to attend the [[School of the Art Institute of Chicago]], where she studied with Michiko Itatani and [[Ray Yoshida]], earning her B.F.A. in 1994. In 2001, Kina received her M.F.A. from the [[University of Illinois at Chicago]] where she studied under noted painters [[Kerry James Marshall]] and Phyllis Bramson.<ref name=lk>[http://www.laurakina.com] Laura Kina- Artist's Website</ref>

Drawing inspiration from popular culture, art history, textile design, historic photographs and personal and family photos, her works focus on the fluidity of cultural difference and the slipperiness of identity. Asian American history and mixed race representations are subjects that run through her work. Colorful pattern fields combined with figurative elements and subtle narratives characterize her paintings.<ref name="lk" /><ref name=personal>Personal interview with the artist.</ref>
Kina is mixed race Asian American. On her father’s side, she is a descendant of Okinawan sugar cane plantation workers from Piihonua on the Big Island of Hawai'i. Her maternal grandmother was Spanish/Basque from Vallejo, CA. and her maternal grandfather was French, English, Irish, and Dutch from Waco, TX.<ref name="personal" />

Laura Kina is Associate Professor of Art, Media, & Design at [[DePaul University]], Vincent DePaul Distinguished Professor, and Director of Asian American Studies. She helped found DePaul’s Asian American Studies program in 2005.<ref>[http://las.depaul.edu/aas/] DePaul University Department of Asian American Studies</ref><ref>[http://depaul-aas.wikidot.com/] The DePaul University Asian American Studies' Wiki Site</ref> Her work is represented by Diana Lowenstein Fine Arts in Miami, FL.<ref name=dl>[http://www.dlfinearts.com/] Diana Lowenstein Fine Arts</ref> She currently lives and works in Chicago, IL.

Kina’s work was included in The New Authentics: Artists of the Post-Jewish Generation at the [[Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership]], Chicago, IL in 2007-2008 and [[the Rose Art Museum]] in Waltham, MA in 2008.<ref name=next>[http://www.nextbook.org/cultural/feature.html?id=870&source=email] Vider, Stephen. "Cultural Evolution- What Exactly is "Post-Jewish" Art?", www.nextbook.org. Jul. 2008</ref><ref name=boris>Boris, Staci. The New Authentics: Artists of the Post-Jewish Generation. Spertus Press, Chicago 2007. pp. 40-2, 92-5.</ref>

== Art ==
Laura Kina creates art which relates to race, religion, class, family, and identity, more specifically Asian American and mixed race identity. Kina's work typically studies highly personal subjects such as her own family circle, friends, memories, and dreams. It is precisely the intimate relationship Kina has with her subjects that allows her to examine complex social and political issues with great care and detail.

[[File:Fridge Rosenfeld.jpg|thumb|x360px|Refrigerator Portraits 2001{{-}}"The Rosenfelds"{{-}}Acrylic on Canvas]]
* '''Refrigerator Portrait Series (2001)''' - in this series Kina comments on class, family, and identity, by creating trompe-l’oeil depictions of household refrigerators. The refrigerators are titled after their owners, all members of Kina's extended family. The paintings convey something about their owners' identities through magnets, drawings, and other items appearing on their doors. This series deals with the ever-blurring boundaries between race, religion, and national identity. One of the paintings, titled "The Rosenfelds", depicts a high end Sub-Zero refrigerator made of shining steel and surrounded by custom wood cabinetry. Unlike the other works in this series, this refrigerator’s surface is unadorned. In its stark simplicity, its formal presence invokes the work of [[Mark Rothko]] and [[Barnett Newman]].<ref name="boris" /><ref>[http://www.nextbook.org/cultural/feature.html?id=870&source=email] Article- "Cultural Evolution- What Exactly is "Post-Jewish" Art?"</ref> “While the variety of adornments on the Kina-Aronson fridge indicates a multiplicity of identities, the interiors of the refrigerators, and, by extension, the inner lives of their owners, remain closed to the viewer”.<ref>Geller-Nelson, Sarah. The New Authentics, Exhibition Catalog</ref>

* '''Hapa Soap Operas (2002–2005)''' - the term [[Hapa]] is Hawaiian and literally means “half”; it has been used colloquially to describe mixed race Asian and [[Pacific Islander Americans]]. Kina grew up describing herself as hapa although the term has since come to be contested.<ref name="personal" /><ref name="times" /> The series consists of paintings based on photographs the artist took of mixed race Asian Americans from across the country. Some of the paintings are larger-than-life oil paintings, while others appear as actual movie posters that were installed in flashing movie poster marquees.<ref name="lk" />

* '''Mishpoche (2005–2007)''' - the name "Mishpoche" refers to the [[Yiddish]] word for family. The artist relates her personal experiences as she examines her own complex identity. This series' main installation is a 12' by 12' quilt-like area created using 60 smaller paintings (enamel on wood), each depicting a sliver of the artist's identity. These paintings constitute a platform which the viewer is invited to walk on after donning a pair of beach flip flops which line the sides of the installation. This feature enhances the viewer's intimacy with the subject, allowing a closer reflection on the patterns and subjects portrayed. Among the panels are depictions of fabric patterns, a Talith, and a Challah cover.<ref name="asiance" />

* '''Loving (2006)''' - the series was inspired by the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision [[Loving v. Virginia]], which declared race-based legal restrictions on marriage unconstitutional. The artist uses the genre of Portrait to examine mixed race issues. In the words of the artist, "these life-size charcoal portraits of myself along with other mixed race friends surround the viewer in a meditative half circle that simultaneously embraces and confronts the viewer".<ref name="lk" />

* '''Aloha Dreams (2006–2008)''' - the series comments on issues of immigration/migration, heritage, and orientalist fantasies, through the exploration of color, pattern figuration, and abstraction.<ref name="lk" /><ref name=times>[http://www.nichibeitimes.com/articles/artsent.php?subaction=showfull&id=1213918200&archive=&start_from=&ucat=3&] Article- Elkjer, April. "Hapa Visual Artist Explores Culture and Identity" NichiBei Times, Jun. 2008</ref> Kina utilizes [[Pop Art]] images, textile design, as well as works of Gaugin, compelling the viewer "to think of the history of Hawai'i and ultimately of the layering of myths and perceptions of place and subject within the painting".<ref name=asiance>[http://asiancemagazine.com/aug_2007/painting_paradise_artist_laura_kina_s_aloha_dreams] Interview- "Painting Paradise. Artist Laura Kina's Aloha Dreams", Asiance Magazine.</ref><ref name="dl" />

* '''Devon Avenue Sampler (2009-2011)''' - Devon Avenue Sampler features vintage and contemporary street signs and imagery from my West Roger’s Park Chicago immigrant neighborhood where Orthodox Jews, Hindus, Muslims and Christians all live.<ref name="lk" />

* '''Sugar (2010-Present)''' - Set during the 1920’s-1940’s, Laura Kina’s SUGAR paintings recall obake ghost stories and feature Japanese and Okinawan picture brides turned machete carrying sugar cane plantation field laborers on the Big Island of Hawaii. Drawing on oral history and family photographs from Nisei (2nd generation) and Sansei (3rd generation) from Peepekeo, Pi’ihonua, and Hakalau plantation community members as well as historic images, Kina’s paintings take us into a beautiful yet grueling world of manual labor, cane field fires and flumes.<ref name="lk" />

* '''New Work (2012-2013)''' - New paintings about Okinawa, Hawaii, and family history.<ref name="lk" />

== Asian American Studies ==
Kina is Associate Professor of Art, Media, and Design, Vincent DePaul Distinguished Professor, and is also the director of Asian American Studies at the school, a program which she helped develop and establish in 2005. Kina teaches courses on Asian American Arts and Culture at DePaul.<ref>[http://las.depaul.edu/art/] DePaul University Department of Art</ref> Kina has also been involved with Asian American arts organizations such as DestinAsian (1992–1995), Foundation for Asian American Independent Media (1995-), Asian American Artists Collective-Chicago and Project A (2001-), and the Diasporic Asian Arts Network (2009-).<ref>[http://www.faaim.org/] Foundation for Asian American Independent Media</ref><ref>[http://www.thecollectivechicago.org/projecta-index.html] Project A- an Artist Collaborative. Asian American Collective</ref>

== Critical Mixed Race Studies ==
Kina is collaborating with Wei Ming Dariotis, Assistant Professor Asian American Studies San Francisco State University, and Camilla Fojas, Associate Professor and Chair Latin American and Latino Studies DePaul University, to found a national association for Critical Mixed Race Studies (CMRS).<ref>[http://wmdariotis.wordpress.com/about/] Prof. Wei Ming Dariotis</ref> She helped created the biannual Critical Mixed Race Studies Conference held at DePaul University in 2010, which brings together over 400 scholars from across the U.S., Canada, U.K., and other countries.<ref>http://las.depaul.edu/aas/About/CMRSConference/index.aspM</ref> Kina is a community arts advisory member of the [[Mavin Foundation]]’s Mixed Heritage Center.<ref>[http://www.mixedheritagecenter.org/] MAVIN Foundation- Mixed Heritage Center</ref> Kina and Dariotis produced a book and curatorial project titled ''"War Baby/Love Child: Mixed Race Asian American Art"'' ([[University of Washington Press]]) in 2013.<ref>http://www.washington.edu/uwpress/search/books/KINWAR.html</ref> Kina teaches a course on Mixed Race Art & Identity at DePaul University.<ref>http://offices.depaul.edu/svdpp/Members/Pages/Laura-Kina.aspx</ref>

== References ==
<references />

{{:DEFAULTSORT:Kina, Laura}}
[[:Category:American artists]]
[[:Category:American people of Japanese descent]]
[[:Category:American people of Okinawan descent]]
[[:Category:American people of Spanish descent]]
[[:Category:American people of Basque descent]]
[[:Category:Living people]]
[[:Category:1973 births]]
[[:Category:People from Riverside, California]]
[[:Category:People from Kitsap County, Washington]]
[[:Category:University of Illinois at Chicago alumni]]
[[:Category:School of the Art Institute of Chicago alumni]]
[[:Category:DePaul University faculty]]
[[:Category:American artists of Japanese descent]]