User:Bcrant/sandbox

I will be working on improving Laura Kina's Wikipedia page for the next couple of months as an assignment for 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, "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)

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[editing Laura Kina page to put "Art" header in chronological order and add her latest projects]

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.

"The Rosenfelds"

Acrylic on Canvas

Refrigerator Portraits 2001

• 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. “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”.

• 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. 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.

• Mishpoche (2005–2007) destroyed- 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.

• 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".

• 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. 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".

Bcrant (talk) 21:07, 11 March 2015 (UTC)