This artist is a creative force and storyteller.
Before delving into the world of art, Featured Artist Eliaichi Kimaro dedicated 12 years of her life to supporting survivors of sexual assault and abuse as a community organizer and crisis counselor. She has produced over 80 videos for nonprofits addressing social, racial, and economic justice issues.
Today, she channels her passion into filmmaking and visual art. While her films' powerful narratives address social, racial, and economic justice issues, her visual art is deeply personal.
Since 2014, Eliaichi has honed her skills as a self-taught artist, becoming a master of mixed-media art. Through her work, she explores her own personal and family narrative, drawing inspiration from her experiences as a queer, mixed-race woman of color and a survivor of abuse.
Her art breathes life into family stories spanning generations and continents, transcending the boundaries of space and time.
Eliaichi cherishes the stories that scars hold, recognizing the resilience and strength behind them. With beautiful compositions, she transforms tales of survival into something truly awe-inspiring.
Artwork Archive had the chance to chat with Eliaichi Kimaro about her creative process, what success means to her, and how Artwork Archive makes her career more manageable!
You can see more of her work on Discovery and learn more about her art practice below.
Eliaichi Kimaro, 'Home', 2023
Has your work changed over time—do you find yourself understanding your art career through different periods of expression?
I go where the energy is.
Sometimes that looks like creatively exploring personal narratives. Other times, I’m drawn to formal explorations of color, form, and composition.
I’ve been doing this long enough to notice that these cycles seem to be connected to the seasons. In the Fall and Winter, I dive in deep and I paint my heart out. In the Spring and Summer, I rise to the surface and paint more from my head.
So my work breathes in and out of organic vs geometric, limited palettes vs rich color explosions; essentially, my creative process toggles between intellect and intuition.
With each successive year, I’m incorporating all that I’ve learned, and the subsequent work, regardless of form, gets richer.
As a self-taught artist, you’ve embraced multiple mediums such as music, photography, film, storytelling, and mixed-media art. How do you decide which medium to use for a particular story or message?
When my partner and I started talking about having kids, I suddenly realized it would be up to me to pass down my Tanzanian and Korean heritage to our (future) kid ... how exactly does one do that?
Then it hit me—film would allow me to bring our family stories and cultures to life. But, I had no filmmaking experience. So I signed up for weekend classes and bought books and equipment on eBay. Within a year, we bought one-way tickets to Tanzania and were off! Eight years later, we emerged with our award-winning documentary film, A Lot Like You.
For the past nine years, painting has been my preferred medium. The narrative of my film was very layered, weaving together a family story spanning three generations on three continents.
My paintings feel like taking every frame of a scene from my film and stacking them on top of each other. I’m exploring the same subject matter, but now it’s all contained in a single frame.
Some of my paintings can be thirty to forty layers deep, with portions of each layer scraped away to reveal the trace remains of histories beneath the surface.
Eliaichi Kimaro, 'The Refuge of My Dreaming Mind', 60 x 36 x 2 in, 2022
Your work often explores family stories that transcend generations and continents. How do you approach capturing and portraying these intricate narratives through art?
None of my paintings start with a clear destination in mind.
I could never set out to tell an intricate intergenerational family story with my art—I just show up in my studio, on any given day, and paint my truth.
The following day, I respond to the work-in-progress in front of me, make some choices about what to keep and what to lose, and then keep building from there.
Some layers contain writing, others have embedded objects or images. Every layer reflects who I am, what I’m thinking about, and what my family is going through, at that moment in time.
The process of building my piece is both additive and reductive—I apply layers of paint as I scrape away or dissolve the paint. When the painting is done, I closely examine the weathered surface, with histories both concealed and revealed, that tells an intricate story I never could have set out to paint.
Once I figure out the title (which can take weeks), I finally understand what the painting has been trying to say. And inevitably, it is connected to the stories I’ve inherited and/or the stories I’m passing down about who I am and where I come from.
My art shows me where I stand in this flow between cultural inheritance and legacy.
What impact do you hope your artwork will have on viewers?
I hope viewers will look at my paintings and see something of their own truth reflected back at them.
This is part of the allure of abstract painting for me—we bring our own personal lens to everything we encounter.
When people share their stories with me about what they see in my work and the memories it invokes, it’s yet another gift that my painting is giving me.
What does success as an artist mean to you?
May I make art that speaks to my soul and brings me joy.
May my work bring joy to the people who view it, and connect them to a part of themselves that is beyond the reach of words.
Why did you decide to use Artwork Archive to inventory and manage your artwork?
I was reaching a point where it was getting hard to track which pieces were in which shows/venues/galleries.
I needed a streamlined system to manage my artwork, and remembered hearing about Artwork Archive on several art business podcasts. So, I signed up and took full advantage of the free introductory period.
I set a goal of uploading my most recent 100 pieces to learn my way around the program, and I never looked back.
Plus, being able to embed Artwork Archive on my WordPress site streamlined my inventory process. Now when I finish a piece, I no longer have to post to multiple sites—I just upload my finished piece to Artwork Archive, and it automatically posts to my website.
Less time duplicating work means more time creating in the studio.
Elaichi Kimaro, 'Something From Nothing', 2023
How do you use Artwork Archive on a daily basis?
On the daily, I use Artwork Archive to:
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Keep track of relevant exhibit info (contact person, install/de-install dates, sales)
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Set up Private Rooms for collectors, galleries, and curators
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Invoice my clients (partial payments are easy to track)
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Keep a contact list of my collectors (and the pieces they’ve bought)
What advice would you give an emerging artist during this time?
Be clear about your goals with your art practice. Some folks make art because it brings them joy, making a living off their artwork is not their primary concern. If that’s the case, embrace it. Be where you are and keep doing what you love.
If your goal is to make a living as an artist, my advice to you is 1: make good work … and 2: handle your business.
Having your administrative affairs in order allows you to respond to requests quickly and professionally.
With Artwork Archive, inventory management is so streamlined and easy, I no longer procrastinate doing my admin work. And the best thing—there’s nothing hanging over my head when I enter the studio.
I know my business is handled, so I’m free to create. As it should be.
Eliaichi Kimaro, Ode to Mr. Carle, 24 x 18 in
Elaichi Kimaro uses Artwork Archive to track her artwork, set up Private Rooms for collectors, galleries, and curators, manage her website, and so much more.
You can make an online portfolio, catalog your artwork, and generate reports like inventory reports, tear sheets, and invoices in seconds with Artwork Archive. Take a look at Artwork Archive's free trial and start growing your art business.
