Portrait of Kim Cardoso in a black shirt, smiling in front of one of her blue paintings

Kim Cardoso (b. 1969) is a visual artist originally from Baltimore, Maryland. After completing her BA in art and psychology at McDaniel College, with additional studies at the Maryland Institute College of Art and School 33 Art Center, she launched in the Baltimore art world as a metalsmith. An inexplicable calling soon took her West to become a midwife, where she earned her MS in Nursing at the University of California San Francisco, founded a free clinic for women, and then had two children. In 2013, Cardoso returned to art as a painter. Her work has been exhibited widely, including Garvey|Simon, New Art Center, Artlink, and the Crocker Art Museum. In 2021, the International Encaustic Artists awarded her a grant to further her studies of California's volcanic landscape. She lives with her family on an urban farm in Oakland, California, paints at the Norton Factory Studios, and continues to work part time in community health.

STATEMENT

As an extrovert in a complex world, I explore themes of ritual, communication, and observation through calm and luminous work. I pay attention to the places where we intersect with nature and are curious about the passage of time. Relating to my formal training as a metalsmith and working with my hands as a midwife, I am drawn to tactile materials, mostly wax. I savor the physicality of encaustic painting- construction, fire, carving, and rebuilding - a metaphor for wellness. The movements of painting itself make the work therapeutic, and the texture and smell of the encaustic medium recalls earth and skin, encouraging me to explore that relationship. I know my work is complete when it feels familiar and sensual and evokes connectedness.

EXHIBITS

2024 Nov 14- Jan 30 Material Resonance, Kriste Michelini, Danville, CA

2024 Nov 9- Dec 21 Exhale, SHOH Gallery, Berkeley, CA

2024 Nov 1- Dec 14 Under 600, Manna Gallery, Oakland, CA

2024 Art Exclusive, Sorelle Gallery, Westport, CT

2024 San Francisco Open Studios, Room & Board, San Francisco, CA

2024 land lines, Temescal Works, Oakland, CA -SOLO

2024 Ingrained, Ji | The Atelier, Oakland, CA -SOLO

2024 Changing the Narrative, Pacific Art League, Palo Alto, CA

2024 Explorations in Monochromatic Art , Arts Benicia, Benicia, CA

2024 The Mills Building Lobby Exhibition, Artsource, San Francisco CA

2023 Select West 2023 Garvey|Simon, San Anselmo, CA

2023 The Space Between, Arc Gallery & Studios, San Francisco, CA

2023 Ephemeral / Ephemera Mulranny Arts, County Mayo, Ireland.

2023 Business Card Art Show JKR Gallery, Provo, UT

2023 Roundtable Collaboration Postal Collage No. 12, Berkeley, CA

2023 tiny. Two Cats Gallery, El Cerrito, CA

2023 Call & Response: Art & Poetry. O”Hanlon Center for the Arts, Mill Valley, CA

2023 Big Names Small Art, Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA

2023 Art After Dark. Edna Contemporary, San Luis Obispo, CA

2023 Ritual Open. DeWitt Clinton Park, New York City, NY

2023 The Wind Walked With Her: Kim Cardoso, Eileen S. Moderbacher, & Wanda Westberg, SHOH Gallery, Berkeley, CA -3 PERSON

2023 Convergence: The Intersection of Wax, Color, & Design. Village Theater Art Gallery, Danville CA -5 PERSON

2023 East Bay Open Studios at the Norton Factory Studios

2023 Hot & Cold: Wax Artists of California, Blue Line Arts, Roseville, CA

2023 Member’s Show, O’Hanlon Center for the Arts, Mill Valley, CA

2022 2 Studio Pop Up, Oakland, CA

2022 14th Annual 50|50 Show, Sanchez Art Center, Pacifica, CA

2022 Abstract Squared, Square Foot Show

2022 Ritual Open. Oxon Run Park, Washington, DC

2022 The Wild Side: California Women Celebrate the Untamed, Arc Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2022 Silent Art Auction & Big Names Small Art, Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA

2022 Slopes of Diablo, Valley Art Gallery, Walnut Creek, CA

2022 Convergence, Art Center Morro Bay, Morro Bay, CA

2022 Shimmer, June Steingart Art Gallery, Laney College, Oakland, CA

2022 SF Bay Area Artists for Ukraine, SHOH Gallery, Berkeley, CA

2022 The Dark of Night, Artist Alliance, Santa Fe, NM

2022 All Shapes & Sizes, JKR Gallery, Provo, UT

2022 Your True Colors, Escondido Arts Partnership, Escondido, CA

2022 Postcard Exhibition, Artlink, Fort Wayne, IN

2021 Sweet & Sour, Artist Alliance, Santa Fe, NM

2021 Starry Starry Night, BHA Gallery, Canada

2021 Painting at Night, Artlink & Artist/Mother Podcast, Fort Wayne, IN

2021 Metamorphosis, Tubac Center for the Arts, Tubac, AZ

2021 Hope, Roaring Artist Gallery

2021 Local Inspiration, O’Hanlon Center for the Arts, Mill Valley, CA

2021 Global Warming is Real, Museum of Encaustic Art, Cerrillos, NM

2021 Business Card Art Show, JKR Gallery, Provo, UT

2017 In Flawed Abundance, New Art Center, Newton, MA

2016 Annual Trunk Show, Simon Breitbard Fine Arts, San Francisco, CA

2016 Our Town, Richmond Art Center, Richmond, CA

2016 Third Annual Juried Show, Piedmont Center for the Arts, Piedmont, CA

2015 Solo Show, Chowhaus, Oakland, CA -SOLO

2015 Collect! Berkeley Art Center, Berkeley, CA

2014 Shelter, Art Works Downtown, San Rafael, CA

1995 Beauty is Strangely Familiar, Resurgam Gallery, Baltimore, MD

1994 the elements, Resurgam Gallery, Baltimore, MD

1993 Silver Anniversary Celebration of American Crafts, Creative Arts Workshop, CT

1993 Invitational, Carroll County Arts Council, Westminster, MD

1992 City Visions, Harborplace & the Gallery, Baltimore, MD

EDUCATION

1998 MS, Nurse Midwifery, University of California, San Francisco

1991 BA in Art & Psychology, McDaniel College, MD

1991 Kenya- Coastal Studies Program, School for International Training

. . .

Mendocino Art Center. Encaustic Intensive with Sue Stover

Esalen, Big Sur, Ca. Writing Poems with Sue Wheeler

Sharon Art Studio, San Francisco. Ceramics

School 33 Art Center, Baltimore, MD. Monotype

Maryland Institute, College of Art, Baltimore, MD. Enameling

WORK IN THE ARTS

Social Media Manager, Norton Factory Studios, Oakland, CA

Founding Member, Resurgam Cooperative Gallery

Craft exhibit Co-chair & Juror, Read Street Festival, Baltimore, MD

Photojournalist, Art In Progress, Baltimore, MD

Art Facilitator, Carroll County Therapeutic Recreation, Westminster, MD

Student Director, Gallery One, McDaniel College, Westminster, MD

SPARKS & STORIES

Sea Legs 1 , 2, and 3 Oil stick on paper New paintings from a body of work I'm revisiting. I'm using a technique I discovered next to a snowy lake on a mother-daughter trip with @_stellacardoso . It was February 2021, and the stalled world needed exploring. Just sent to @artstudio1.0.1 with extra protection from rain.

Ingrained Flow 14 x 14 beeswax, damar resin, pigment, and graphite on birch panel with handcrafted walnut frame This painting is included in Material Resonance at Kriste Michelini @kristemichelini . I'm excited to have my layered, luminous encaustic works sit alongside the organic ceramics of Liz Bloomfield @eb_clay and Joan Pinto @joanpintoceramics , and the textural mixed media works of Amy Torgeson @amytorgeson and Kristina Nobleman @kristinanobleman . It is a beautifully curated exhibit! 🎁 The line drawing in the last image is a coloring page I made from the painting. I created it (and a few others) for anyone who needs a little respite. You can download it for free from my website and make it yours. As usual, it's linked in the bio up🔝 Material Resonance 🪧Kriste Michelini Interiors 222 Railroad Avenue, Danville, CA 🗓️. November 14 to January 30 🕰️ Monday - Thursday from 10 - 4 & by appointment

One of the best things about being an artist is community! On Saturday, I attended receptions for two group exhibits showing my paintings. I mixed them together in this reel because that's how it is- a big swirl of connections and conversations. Over the four hours I was @mannagalleryoakland then @shoh_east_bay , I was introduced to a neighbor who made the giant animal sculptures in front of her house, connected the mother of a teen fashion designer to an aspiring teen fashion designer, sold a painting to an artist who has been cheering me on for a while, listened to an arts administrator asking insightful questions- and the artist answering deeply, met IRL three artists I knew through instagram, felt the excitement of the gallery owner describing the show curation, learned about a good restaurant, pet three cute dogs, told a friend from my art crit group about my latest adventures in oil on paper, received the joyful support of artists who have already arrived at the success I hope to have, was an impromptu guest art history lecturer for three homeschooled kids, and related to an artist's passion for the magic of sanding. With all the ups and downs of life, this is the stuff that keeps me painting and putting myself out there. Thank you to all who supported me this weekend - and always - in person and in spirit. It really means a lot. MANNA until 12/14 SHOH until 12/21 . . . #kimcardosoart #kimcardoso #mannagallery #under600exhibition #shohgallery #exhale #artmurmur #25thStreetOakland #californialandscape #bayareaartists #contemporarypainting #californiaart #californiaartist #oaklandartist #oaklandartists #bayareaart #abstractlandscape #encaustic #iea_encaustic #nortonfactorystudios #artistssupportingartists

Exhale: A Contemporary Landscape Show opens this weekend in Berkeley at SHOH Gallery. While our national landscape changes, come take some deep breaths with artists showing landscapes and hang out with other art lovers (possibly not talking about politics for a few hours) @shoh_east_bay . This exhibit has works by fifteen artists on both floors of the gallery, and I am truly honored to have been invited to show my abstract landscapes with them. Kanna Aoki @kannaaoki Jim Bensman @jbensman Kim Cardoso @kimcardosoart Lisa Esherick @lisaesherick James Hartman @earthmanjams Betsy Kendall @kendall.bets Christina Kent @christinakentart Heidi McDowell @heidimatic Gage Opdenbrouw @gageopdenbrouw Amrita SInghal @amritasinghalstudio Kevin Smith @ksmithpainting Wanda Westberg @wandawestberg Donna Westerman @donnadaywesterman Caren Wynne @halcyon.studios 🗓️ Nov 9- Dec 21 🍾 Sat Nov 9 from 3-6 (I’ll be there 4-6) 🖼️ SHOH Gallery @shoh_east_bay 📍700 Gilman St, Berkeley, CA ⏱️Thurs 12-5, Fri & Sat 12-6 'I Simply Gave Myself Up To the Task' beeswax, damar resin, pigment, and graphite on wood panel 40 x 30 in

I'm sort of paralyzed in bed at the moment, doomscrolling. Friends are canvassing in other states, posting about the traumas we can't ignore, and making art to encourage civic engagement. I put my ballot in the box last weekend, woke up at 4:30 am today (who set it up so we change the clocks right before election anxiety?!), and I am stuck. I can hear my son in the shower (for too long!), my husband fed the dogs and the chickens, and I have a pile of work waiting for me. Later, I'll be out providing sexual and reproductive health care with Street Medicine, and tonight I'll be bleary eyed in front the screen. Right after I hit share on these photos from my photo app search "blue," I'm going to get out of bed, do some stretching and breathing, and see if I can go make a difference in this world that turns and turns (for now- let's hold her gently). 🕊️

UNDER 600 opens TONIGHT at Manna Gallery in Oakland, CA (more events listed below ⬇️)! I'm so happy I was invited to participate in this exhibition featuring small works at accessible prices by seven local artists. I have six new paintings in the show - all California landscapes. UNDER 600 runs November 1 - December 14 @mannagalleryoakland and includes art by these local artists- Wayne Armstrong Kim Cardoso @kimcardosoart Patrick Crotty @artpacker1 Gina Gaiser @ginagaiser Rachel Major @rachelsmajorart Elaine Maute Sandra Wong Orloff @sandrawongorloff 🪩Artists’ Reception Saturday, November 9, 2-4 pm 🪩Holiday Party with 25th Street Galleries Saturday December 14, 3-5pm @25thstoakland with @slate_art @mercury20gallery @thefourthwallgallery @uptownfineart 📍Manna Gallery, 473 25th St, Oakland, CA ⏰ HOURS: Sat 12-5 & 1st Fridays 5-8 Paintings shown above-- 'The 101' 'Black Diamond Mines' 'Pedro Point' All the art is priced under $600, if you didn't figure that out 😉.

'The Summit of Mt. Everest is Marine Limestone' encaustic, pastel, and graphite on wood 20 x 20 in I'm always happy to be juried into a show at the lovely @ohanloncenter , and I'm especially pleased this time to be selected for BLUE from over 1000 works by Sarah Shepard of @sarahshepardgallery in Larkspur, CA. I used to apply to many juried shows, but early this year I shifted my focus to other areas. When I heard about this opportunity, I couldn't resist! This call for entries had four big draws for me- 1. it's my color 🦋💙👖🪣🌊, 🌏🌌, 2. the entry fees benefit a community art space, 3. I wanted to put my work in front of this particular juror, and 4. the O'Hanlon artist talk tradition is such a cool part of showing with them. Today at 4pm PT on Zoom, the juror and artists will talk about our work in the show. DM me before 3:30 today, and I'll share the link. You can see BLUE and read a poem by J. Livingston via the link in my bio ⬆️ through December 31. Thank you @sarahshepardgallery and everyone at @ohanloncenter !

Landscapes from my travels stay in my head when I paint. Some are broad vistas and others are a blur of a passing field or shifting ocean. I rarely began with the intention to capture a specific landscape or photograph I've taken. When a place reveals itself in the process, the title often comes from that recognition. When the place remains elusive, I often use lines from books or poems about nature, place, or self-care to better understand the work and give it a title. I’ll be showing several landscapes in two SF Bay Area exhibits with opening receptions on November 9. I'm so pleased to have been invited by @shoh_east_bay and @mannagalleryoakland to share all new work in these small group exhibitions. Check out my bio or sign up for my newsletter for the details. . . . #kimcardosoart #encaustic #natureinspires #californialandscape #seascape #fogscape #iea_encaustic #encausticartinstitute #closeup #californiaart #californiaartist #oaklandartist #kimcardoso #bayareaart #abstractlandscape #shortvideo #naturereels #northerncaliforniadesign #artandnature #californiainspired #reelitfeelit #fyp #artinspiration #naturalhomes #nortonfactorystudios

'If You Know How To Look' This painting is part of my body of work called Nature's Library. The paintings pull from my love of drawing and celebrate lines carved by time. It's available @sorellegalleryfineart in the Art Exclusive until 4p Pacific / 7pm Eastern tonight. The show has over 500 works of art- all on sale, all online! Go to sorellegallery.com to find your favorite.

GET THIS ONE TOMORROW ➡️ Many little details make my paintings: laying down color, peeling up tape, scraping with a straight edge razor, blending with fire, picking out brush hairs, and deciding what's up. These details are part of painting with natural beeswax, tree resin, and pigments. As a former metalsmith, I paint with a craftsperson's heart 🤍 KIM CARDOSO 'In Which We Are Never Alone' 30 x 40" encaustic on birch panel Available on sale @sorellegalleryfineart in the Art Exclusive October 23 to 25. Save it to your Sorelle online wishlist. The online sale goes live at exactly 4 p PT/ 7p ET! Link in bio or go to sorellegallery.com Event supported by @theconnecticutedit and benefitting @bcrfcure . . . . . #sorellegallery #westportct #connecticut #findingwestport #westportlifestyle #connecticutart #artexclusive #connecticutgram #newengland #NewEnglandHomeMagazine #nehomemagazine #connecticutdesigner #ctdesigner #connecticutinteriordesign #beachhouse #modernrustic #modernrusticdesign #eclecticstyle #artinspired #wabisabi #visceralfeels #bluepainting #kimcardosoart #encaustic #encaustica #abstractlandscape #iea_encaustic #paintingwithfire #artreel #studioview

'When Things Go Quiet' Encaustic, pastel, and graphite on birch panel 20 x 20 in This painting references the passage of time marked in rocks and hidden below the sea. It borrows the title from "A Brief History of the Earth" by Andrew H. Knoll. Available this coming Wednesday 10/23 at 7p (4p Pacific time) through Sorelle Gallery in Westport, Connecticut. The Art Exclusive is an online flash art sale with works by 70 artists. All art will be $2,500 or less, with a large collection for $750 and under. The sale will close at 7pm (EDT) on Friday, October 25. If you want to collect art, I recommend you go to Sorelle's website now to explore the art by price or artist and add your favorite pieces to your personal online wishlist. When the event begins, you'll be ready to buy! sorellegallery.com or the link in the bio ⬆️

Today our incredible daughter is 20! She has always forged a unique path, listening and caring deeply as she moves along. How she went from a babe in arms to a princess with scuffed knees to a third year university student presenting math research in a blink of time is sorcery I can't understand- but I surely enjoy. I am the proudest mother. HAPPY BIRTHDAY STELLA! 🎂 🧁 PARABÉNS! 😘🫶❤️

This yellow is the color of golden Fridays at my grandmother's house on Ridgeview Avenue. Her living room glowed in any Baltimore weather. Colorful Estonian pillows and knobby knitted throws dotted the room. While I never caught a passion for making textiles, my love for them is true. I have found the meditative rhythm of this handiwork through painting. This painting is a little one in a big series called Handiwork. Purl Sunrise 8 x 8 in Encaustic and pastel on birch panel 🏷️ Special SALE: $350 Available October 23 - 25 in the online Art Exclusive @sorellegalleryfineart . 💛 Add art to your wishlist on the Sorelle website now, and get a reminder when the show opens for sales at 4pm Pacific/ 7 pm Eastern - in one week!! Many thanks to @theconnecticutedit for supporting the event and organizing the 5% donation to breast cancer research @bcrfcure making this post reminded me to schedule my mammogram! Do you need one too? As usual, the link is in my bio ⬆️ to my 10 paintings in the show- along with the art of over 70 artisits. 😊 . . #sorellegallery #westportct #connecticut #findingwestport #westportlifestyle #connecticutart #artexclusive #connecticutgram #newengland #NewEnglandHomeMagazine #nehomemagazine #connecticutdesigner #ctdesigner #eclecticstyle #artinspired #makehomeyours #wabisabi #yellowart #memoriesofhome #encaustic #meditation #paintingreel #breastcancerresearchfoundation