Sights, Sounds and Samplings of the American Soldier with Las Vegas Artist Robin Slonina
Sedona AZ (October 18, 2021) – Sedona Arts Academy presents Sights, Sounds and Samplings of the American Soldier with Robin Slonina, Oct. 20, 4 to 6:30 p.m. at Sedona Arts Academy in the Village of Oak Creek. Her exhibit We Are All Wonder Women will be on display as well as her camouflage body painting of model and Army Reservist Rebecca Woodberry. In addition, Douglas Taurel will perform a monologue or two from his upcoming production of The American Soldier and samplings of American cuisine will be provided.
Robin Slonina is a multidisciplinary artist whose work includes body painting, sculpture, painting, installation and performance art. Robin is also a producer and judge on the hit body painting competition show Skin Wars, alongside RuPaul, Rebecca Romijn and Craig Tracy, now in its third season on Netflix. She lives in Las Vegas, where she founded the world-famous event company Skin City Body Painting.
Her body art has been featured on the Jimmy Kimmel show and a 2012 Super Bowl commercial, as well as on ABC, BBC news, Fox, Lifetime, MTV, NATGeo, NBC, Showtime, Spike, Travel Channel, Univision, and Viceland. It has also been seen in print outlets across the country, including the Huffington Post, the Dallas Observer, Dope Magazine, QLife Magazine, USA Today, the Las Vegas Sun, Review Journal, Weekly and Las Vegas Magazine.
Slonina’s paintings and sculptures have been exhibited in galleries and museums all over the world, including the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Smart Museum of Art, the Peace Museum, the Contemporary Art Workshop, the University of Chicago, DePaul University, John Michael Kohler Arts Museum, The Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, Compton Verney Museum, UNLV’s Tam Gallery, Emergency Arts, The Smith Center, Springs Preserve, Life Cube, Meow Wolf, Art-o-mat, Atomic Todd Gallery, Ambrosino Gallery, Lucky Gallery, Recycled Propaganda gallery and the Arts Factory, among many others.
Of her We Are All Wonder Women exhibit, Robin says, “Like many young girls who grew up in the 1970’s and 80’s, Wonder Woman was a childhood hero of mine. Back then, there were not as many role models for young women. In fact, playing superheroes with my sisters always caused an argument, because there was only one female superhero to choose from. I distinctly remember the empowering feeling of twirling into character to embody this strong, righteous and beautiful heroine. As my generation grew up, we never really let her go, and Wonder Woman has stayed in our collective psyches. She has grown with us, and come to symbolize the modern ‘do it all’ warrior woman of today.”
“What many don’t realize is that Wonder Woman creator William Molton Marsten was involved in the women’s suffrage movement. He had been a committed feminist for decades by the time he created Wonder Woman in 1941,” Robin said. “Another overlooked historical fact is the racial tension around suffrage. Black women were a major part of the early movement the mainstream suffrage movement, but became increasingly marginalized and discriminated against in order to garner white male and southern support for white women’s voting rights. My goal with my current Wonder Woman series is to create versions of Wonder Women for everyone.”
To create this series, Robin worked in layers, influenced by both vintage pop art and modern street art. She then hand-cut large, layered stencils to incorporate using spray paint, and filled in the rest with hand-painted details. “I love the layers created on outdoor urban canvases when peeling posters combine with graffiti and other found street imagery, Robin said. To begin these paintings, she searched local comic book stores for vintage, damaged Wonder Woman comic books and used them as inspiration. Sometimes she even collages them into the work. The Wonder Woman comic book character has gone through many variations, and her favorite comic incarnation is from the 1960’s and early 1970’s.
Body paint model Rebecca Woodberry is an Arizona native residing in Sedona who has a diverse background spread across multiple disciplines including health, wellness, technology, athletics, and music. She is also a reservist in the United States Army as a Military Police Officer.
Sight, Sounds and Samplings of the American Soldier with Robin Slonina is Oct. 20, 4 to 6:30 p.m. at Sedona Arts Academy in The Collective Sedona, 7000 SR 179, Suite C-100 in the Village of Oak Creek. Tickets are $45 per person and are available at bit.ly/SSS-American-Soldier.
The American Soldier starring Douglas Taurel is Oct. 21 and 22 at 7 p.m. and Oct. 23 at 2 p.m. Tickets are available at bit.ly/etc-american-soldier. The Oct. 23 show at 2 p.m. will be available to live stream. Tickets are at our.show/the-american-soldier-oct21.
For more information, call Camilla Ross at 860-705-9711.