“Good Soup!” / Oil on canvas / 40 x 50 in 101.6 x 127 cm
Meet Susan Kim Alvarez—a Honolulu-born artist with a flair for blending personal mythology with vivid imagination in her captivating works of art.
Now based in Miami, Alvarez earned her degree in Interdisciplinary Sculpture from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2022.
Alvarez has attended residencies at Bakehouse Art Complex (Miami, 2022) and Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture (2023). Her work is featured in collections such as the Marquez Art Project and NSU Art Museum.
Her upcoming show Oh for Goodness Snake! at LATITUDE Gallery, NYC, Jan 24–Feb 24, celebrating the Lunar New Year and the Year of the Snake, exploring transformation, renewal, and interconnectedness. She is showing alongside Cici McMonigle.
These cats are COOKIN / 48 x 60 in / Acrylic on Canvas
Alvares’ work is intricate and dynamic. She weaves together subjects in a seamless narrative that feels spontaneous rather than overly designed. Her paintings invite viewers into a world where forms blend and evolve naturally, telling a story that unfolds with each glance.
Her creative process begins with a watery base layer of paint, allowing shapes to form naturally before evolving into the intricate designs and layered techniques that define her style. This spontaneous approach lends her work a dynamic, organic quality—even amidst its bold hues and intricate details.
MUD WRESLIN / Acrylic on Canvas / 60 x 48 in
Alvarez draws much of her inspiration from the cartoons, comic books, and anime that shaped her childhood. She focuses on movement and storytelling, referencing folklore and mythology within more contemporary contexts.
Alvarez is especially drawn to trolls. With a cross-cultural history that spans thousands of years, trolls have endured in storytelling because of their adaptability, reflecting the fears, values, and humor of the cultures that tell their tales. They remain a powerful symbol of the unknown, the untamed, and the otherworldly in human imagination. And this describes her work perfectly.
Her work is playful, untamed, and otherworldly while maintaining excellent technical skills. This combination of craft and creativity is what makes her work so compelling.
Look at my Ribbon / Acrylic on canvas / 36 x 48 in.
“There’s two wolves inside me and wont stop stop bangin each other” / Acrylic on Canvas / 60 x 48 in
“Roar for the Riches” / Oil on Canvas / 9 × 12 in 22.9 × 30.5 cm
