Tesla Kawakami

I grew up in Washington making fairy houses in the woods, frequenting hidden beach lookouts as an angsty teen, and witnessing a devastating flood in my college town. My relationship to the natural world has framed my whole life. My work presents an intimate exploration of the entanglement between queer identity and our endangered natural world through depictions of altered landscapes and queer bodies interacting with environments in states of transformation—sometimes tender, sometimes violent, always urgent.

I graduated in 2023 from Western Washington University with a BFA and I was unanimously selected as the Outstanding Graduate for the College of Arts. After graduating I participated in residencies such as Rockland Woods and Vashon Artist Residency.

My paintings often depict crumbling infrastructure reflected in flooded landscapes, rich with local natural life; others zoom in on familiar flora and fauna, and some depict queer bodies in idyllic magical realism scenes. These paintings employ contrasting techniques that mirror the complexities of both environmental and personal resilience. Masking processes conceal and reveal forms, while reductive scratching simulates erosion, creating surfaces that bear witness to both geological and emotional time. My signature neon acrylic underpaintings create visual vibrations beneath direct oil applications, producing landscapes that pulse with unsettling vitality—beauty on the edge of collapse.