Kara Swink has made a creative retreat in her little Kapaa home, an artist’s haven where she can look at the world through whatever color glasses she chooses.
It’s small and dynamic, with paintings in various stages hanging on the walls, a rainbow of palates on her worktable and her dog Yodie weaving his way to his favorite spot on the broken-in futon.
She’s preparing to step out of that haven and into the Kauai Society of Artists space at Kukui Grove Center for a show opening Friday, July 26.
She’ll be featuring 15 to 20 contemporary paintings inspired by stories of loss, life and healing.
Ranging from whimsical to contemplative, Swink alternates between oil and acrylic mediums, depending upon her work schedule at Easter Seals, where she serves community members with disabilities and special needs.
Regardless of the medium, though, all of her pieces speak to the inner child.
“My work is reclamation of childhood, it’s imaginative,” Swink said. “And, a lot of it is about grief.”
Swink’s mother died when she was 11 years old, and her grandmother died when she was 17. Art was a way for her to process those losses.
“Losing a mom twice has been very influential to my work,” Swink said. “Art is a comfort.”
Before she lost her primary caretakers, her mom and grandmother, Swink was already using art as a way to decompress and process life.
Both her mother and grandmother liked their alcohol, and she was left alone much of the time as a child.
“Art is one of the things that’s been constant, and has always been a comfort for me,” Swink said. “I had a lot of alone time, time to be with myself, and I was always making things as a kid, self-soothing with art and writing, choreographing dances.”
Another reason Swink loves to paint is that once a piece is done, it’s a mark she’s made on the world that doesn’t have to be adjusted. It’s a finished statement, and one that belongs to her.
“Making your mark is important to me, and when it’s done it’s done,” Swink said.
As she prepares to showcase her work at the KSA gallery, a show that runs through July 31, Swink is also currently working on a three-piece set inspired by the migrant situation at the U.S. and Mexico border.
She’s taken newspaper clippings and candy wrappers from both nations and covered them with shades of pink and yellow, blue and glitter. The centerpiece is a clipping of children’s drawings, illustrating their living conditions.
“Just seeing the things they were drawing, they weren’t good conditions,” Swink said. “So it inspired me to make this.”
Her show opens Friday, July 26, at 7 p.m. at the KSA gallery. The free gagthering features wine and pupu, and special music by Isaac Castillo. Paintings will be available for sale.
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Jessica Else, staff writer, can be reached at 245-0452 or jelse@thegardenisland.com.
