Hamilton-based artist Tania LaCaria will be at Kiehl’s in Mapleview Centre on Sat., Jan. 13 for a live painting session — LaCaria will be making the lab coat of Kiehl’s mascot Mr. Bones into a work of art.
From 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., Kiehl’s will turn into a pop-up gallery space complete with custom labels designed by LaCaria on some products. LaCaria will be bringing a 2023 piece called “Agency,” part of her “Love Letters (To My Exes)” collection, to display; the piece will remain on display in Kiehl’s main windowfront for a few days post-event. This artwork will also be featured on the aforementioned custom labels.
Kiehl’s is also donating “a generous amount of product,” says LaCaria, that will be auctioned off to support a women’s charity of her choice. The brand already donates extra samples to charities that support women, and were excited to partner with LaCaria in this charitable component of the live art event.
Fans of LaCaria’s abstract and intuitive art will likely know that she is a big supporter of women’s issues and charities that support women. She spoke powerfully and emotionally last year at Halton Women’s Place “Hope in Every Step” event, garnering much applause from the audience gathered.
LaCaria was invited by Kiehl’s store manager Breshna Rodaki to participate in the event, and visited the store earlier this week for a pre-event consultation with Rodaki and assistant manager Olivia Richmond. LaCaria says that she’s very pleased to be working with the welcoming and warm Rodaki and Richmond and is looking forward to meeting Burlington community members at the event.
While she has prepped some of Mr. Bones’ lab coat already, LaCaria will be bringing her paints and tools to the mall on Saturday, and will be inviting attendees to participate in the process: whoever would like to join in can dip their thumb in their paint colour of choice to make their mark on Mr. Bones’ coat.
As well as a being a great “thumbs up” photo op, the concept behind the thumb prints is “better together.” LaCaria explains, “One little thumb print [by itself] is just a circle or a dot, but all together, I hope that it creates the imagery that when we come together, we create something bigger and better.”
Community building is important to LaCaria, and she wants this live art session to be a reminder for people — that “people don’t have to feel alone…we can come together to make sure people don’t feel alone.”
Within the “better together” theme is the “suggestion that we are all very much the same — but also so different, and through our individuality, we come together to make a difference,” LaCaria shares. The proof of that will be in the final product, when Mr. Bones’ lab coat is fully painted and thumb-printed.
As an artist, LaCaria is a star on the rise: she was recently profiled by Canvas Rebel (find that interview here), and her work was showcased by the mobile art gallery Unfold at Art Week in Miami during Art Basel in December 2023. Not bad for someone who only re-entered the world of art in 2021 after a decade and a half of travel and working in design consulting, and later, hospitality.
To make your mark on Mr. Bones’ lab coat with LaCaria, head over to Kiehl’s at Mapleview Centre this Saturday, Jan. 13, between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.
