Kim Cardoso (b. 1969, Baltimore, MD) is a visual artist interested in longing and communication. Originally from Baltimore, Maryland, she received her degree in art and psychology, then worked as a job coach for adults with mental illness and as a metalsmith, showing wearable sculpture in galleries along the Eastern Seaboard. In the mid 1990’s, she heeded an inexplicable calling and moved west to become a midwife. Taken by the landscape and people in the SF Bay Area, she made California her new home. At an art retreat in 2013, Kim found the encaustic medium. Her paintings have been exhibited across the US and are collected internationally. In 2021, the International Encaustic Artists awarded her a grant to further her 1000 Series about 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.

Artist Statement:

I am an extrovert in a complex world trying to find quiet, so my work is a pursuit of stillness.  I capture the belonging I feel in nature as a way to process this modern life. Relating to my formal training as a metalsmith and working with my hands as a midwife, I love the physicality of my materials. I savor the craft-like method of encaustic painting: construction, fire, carving, and rebuilding. The movements of painting itself make the work therapeutic, and the texture and smell of the encaustic medium recall earth and skin, encouraging me to explore that relationship. I know my work is complete when it feels familiar and sensual and evokes connectedness.

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