Kim Leutwyler is a Chicago-based artist who works in a variety of media including painting, installation, ceramics, printmedia, and drawing. She was born on Friday the 13th, which people say explains a lot. Never residing in one place for more than a few years, Kim has traveled extensively throughout North America, the European continent, Asia and the South Pacific region. A great deal of Kims inspiration is drawn from the imagery, social differences and experiences in her travels. Kims current work takes its form in large scale paintings primarily dealing with images of beauty, Queer-identity and sexuality. Much of Leutwyler's time is dedicated to the things she loves such as extreme sports, good beer, body modification, beautiful girls, chocolates, narcissism, carbs and mohawks. She holds concurrent degrees in studio and art history from Arizona State University, and a Painting and Drawing degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.I create large scale figure paintings of queer-identified women and transgenders. My work toys with the boundaries between glorification vs. objectification, while concurrently investigating the territory between visual and sexual enjoyment through pattern, color and image. I have come to focus on painting as a medium because of its primarily masculine history in the western art canon. I am dedicated to my studio practice and intend to continue making art throughout the course of my life, no matter what path my career may take. In the future, I see my artwork marking a sexually fluid presence and stimulating dialogue in both the feminist and mainstream art worlds. I have started a new project called PHILANTHROPART, for which I will be donating 100% of the proceeds from my artwork sold to a new charity or non-profit organization each month. See http://KimLeutwyler.com for details. … Read More