Throughout her painting career, Kingery has been drawn to the stories and traditions expressed within cultures. Each textile, dance, drum and song is a living reminder of peoples’ resilience in the face of conflict. As a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation, Kingery recognizes the strength it takes to preserve a culture. This frame of thought informed her artwork while traveling through the Ryukyuan Islands of Japan, indigenous communities in Mexico and Central America, remote villages in Uganda, and powwow celebrations in her native Oklahoma. Kingery has cultivated a global identity while remaining tied to her Chickasaw history, keen to paint the “little seeds” that shine.
Stylistically, Kingery developed her painting techniques by observing a range of artistic traditions. Born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, in 1939, Kingery was first introduced to abstract expressionism as it rose to popularity in the United States. This artistic movement, identified by a lack of figuration and loose brushstrokes, set the foundation for Kingery’s early works. She later evolved this style while studying fine arts at the University of Oklahoma, expanding her knowledge beyond the Western Canon. The intricate work of Mughal paintings, which developed out of Persian miniatures and took root in Southeast Asia through the 16th and 18th centuries, marked a distinct departure from the paintings that previously inspired Kingery. By the time she graduated with her bachelor’s degree in 1961, Kingery was integrating two unique styles: allowing for chaos, then refining with control.
This painting technique developed and deepened once Kingery migrated to Okinawa, Japan, in 1968. An Air Force wife with two young children, Kingery carved out time and patience to learn from master artists. She befriended weavers and potters, and was inspired to paint Okinawan textiles, textures and tales into her artwork. While in Japan, Kingery studied beneath a renowned sumi-e (ink wash) painter and honed her skill in the ancient Japanese art of ink, water and brush. This tradition bled into Kingery’s consciousness and continues to shape her method today: she still begins with thin ink washes, then adds fine hand painted lines and acrylic washes in as many as 25 layers.
By the time Kingery returned to Oklahoma, she had trained herself to observe and learn from the people around her. At the 1994 Red Earth Native American Cul- tural Festival in Oklahoma City, she watched the diverse dances, regalia and music expressed by tribal people in a powwow context. Though her own grandmother passed down family stories and memories, Kingery had not been raised among Chickasaw arts or community events. After her Red Earth experience, Kingery began reconnecting with her heritage and retooled her paintings to include a Native American spirit and sentiment.
In her most contemporary works, Kingery blends global experience with subjective interpretation. She celebrates the transformation that occurs when imagination collaborates with memory, and uses her canvas to explore time, place and culture.
Emily Santhanam
Curator of Exhibitions and Education
Chickasaw Cultural Center
The Chickasaw Nation