Oil Paintings from Svelata

After hanging from helicopters, having her turn at a Gatlin machine gun and riding shotgun with the U.S. Air Force’s Special Ops Search and Rescue Squadrons, American artist Mia Tavonatti currently wages her own war through the transcendent potential of beauty in art.

Last year, Tavonatti moved to Italy to unveil her most recent project, Svelata, a monumental series of oil paintings on canvas at the ancient Museo Arsenale in Amalfi. More than 6,000 people from 30 countries witnessed her European solo debut with an overwhelmingly positive reception. In June 2008, Tavonatti was one of 20 artists chosen worldwide for an exhibition at the Cesi Palace in Acquasparta, Italy, where she was awarded "Best of Show." She has since returned to California and is currently producing the Svelata World Tour, an international traveling exhibition of 22 paintings housed in its own custom 14,000-square-foot fabric and aluminum truss nomadic structure.

Admission is free. The Kwan Fong Gallery, located in Soiland Humanities Center, is open to the public Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Opening reception: Saturday, Oct. 24, 7 p.m.