Kim's exhibit of collected mosaics is the first of Urban Legend's "Summer of Jingletown" exhibitions.  Each month we are featuring artists from this small Oakland neighborhood; as home to the Institute of Mosaic Art we felt it only fitting to open the series with an iconic mosaic artist from the hood.

About Kim Larson:

Kim Larson is a self-taught artist originally from Buffalo, NY.
She moved to San Francisco in 1979 and much later to Oakland in 2003.

Kim studied art at the University of Southern California until she realized that her own art would be better evoked through life experiences rather than in a school setting. So she left school to do plein aire oil paintings in her native western New York.

Soon after moving to San Francisco in 1979, Kim was introduced to graphic arts through a friend. That led to a 25 year career in the graphic arts field. She has specialized in the consumer goods and clothing design industry for the
past 15 years. Kim has worked in many different art media and styles but mosaics are new to her.

For now, she is specializing in female nudes. The shape is very recognizable to the viewer and so lends itself to  experimentation and impressionism with the glass. And the 3-dimensional volume of the female body is fun and beautiful to evoke.

Working in glass and mirror is like painting with light - overall, the result is very pleasing to the eye.