My paintings examine the complicated embrace of desire. They are conceived from a non-gendered sensuous place and invite yearning. My schooling instilled the mark making of abstract expressionists painter along with an affinity for the pattern and decoration movement. Chance operations and intentional marks seduce by offering a place for an un-inhibited gaze.

I use aerosol and oil to make the paintings. Hot pinks, earthy green colors, blacks, browns, and whites, create an anthropomorphized palette. These large, abstract works point to outer-space, renaissance murals and the body while alluding to sexual curiosity and play.

Desire is not associated with shame, neurosis, or suffering when it is illuminated. And so in my work, protuberance, holes and mounds assert themselves. The paintings contain secret worlds where boobs, bulges and passageways leak their want. Pent, nasty, sexy, and curious yearning fills the space. As paint drips and bleeds it leaves a residue; chance enters the painting. Embracing this unknown, mystery imbues the work with spirituality like the painting systems of Agnes Martin and Agnes Pelton. These painters use differing methods, but they both seek a transcendence t. Through both chance and ambiguous imagery that references body, my work imparts transcendent innate desire.

Kim Manfredi graduated from Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) with a BFA in 1988 and then worked as a skilled decorative painter for many years. She returned to MICA and graduated under the tutelage of Grace Hartigan and Joyce Kozloff earning an MFA in 2009.

After graduating MICA, Kim was represented by C. Grimaldis Gallery, 2009 – 2013 and has attended residencies at the Vermont Studio Center, VCCA, Maryland Art Place and most recently a portfolio reviewed workshop at Anderson Ranch. Kim is represented by Slate Contemporary in the bay area and exhibits at various venues in the Coachella Valley. Kim is a founder of the Desert Open Studios Tour.