Laura Arminda Kingsley

b. USA, 1984

Laura Arminda Kingsley is a multidisciplinary artist born 1984 in the USA as the daughter of Dominican parents. Kingsley grew up in Santo Domingo. She currently lives and works in Dübendorf, Zurich. She holds an Associate Degree in Fine Arts from Chavón in La Romana, Dominican Republic, a Bachelor of Science from the City University of New York - Hunter College, and a Master in Fine Arts from the California College of the Arts.

Her exhibition participations include Echos aus dem Ozean a group exhibition Weg at Helmhaus Zurich, Tableau Zurich, Sculpture in the City in London, the 22nd Grenchner Triennale in Grenchen, the CICA Museum in Seoul, Suspended Matter at the Berkeley Art Center in Berkeley, as well as Stranger in the Village at the Aargauer Kunsthaus and shared spaces in change at the Kornhausforum in Bern. Her work was awarded the Dorothy & George Saxe Fellowship in 2012 and 2014, the Kunstatelier-Stipendium of the City of Dübendorf, and the LOCUS Micro-Grant in 2021.

Photo by Julliette Fong

Artist Statement

Our history is the history of life on Earth. When viewed through the lens of evolutionary biology, deep time, or microbiology, alternative perspectives open up, inviting us to rethink our existence in new ways. In this context, my work delves deeply into the question of what it means to be human.

My art invites everyone to imagine what a human being is beyond hierarchical constructions of race and gender. It explores our connection to each other and to all other life forms on Earth from a non-hierarchical perspective. To share these perspectives with others, I create paintings, sculptures, animations, poetry, and performances.

The use of my imagination, natural sciences, and historical knowledge stems from the need to resist the societal notion of separation from nature and the many fellow human beings classified as "other" due to the colonial ideological legacy in terms of race and gender.