I think of my drawings as internal landscapes of our bodies; cells, veins, skin, nerves. These landscapes are systems that our lives depend upon. They circulate blood, compress or expand to breathe, filter or cover to protect and carry signals or messages. They are all inter-related and inter-dependent. I use these systems to construct various structures in my drawings. Like our internal systems, the structures are linear, flowing, clustered, dense, and intertwined.

In the work, I draw a matrix of lines to represent our skins. The matrix becomes a transparent membrane that is flexible. It morphs and changes as our skin does. It reacts to its surroundings and can be pushed or pulled to form lumps and bumps. I use groupings of white dots to make a barrier or an edge, which is soft and willing to yield, envelop and grow around other structures. Color emphasizes areas of tension, heat and sensitivity in the drawings.

The materials and the presentation of my work are as important as the imagery. The immediacy and directness of the medium (gouache and graphite capture the movements of my own body drawing) and the material (a delicate, skin-like, rice paper) echo the content of the work. By presenting the layered drawings pinned directly to the wall or laid out on a table like a map, the viewer has a more intimate experience with the work. My hope is that the viewer will make an emotive, physical connection to the impermanent, ethereal nature of the pieces..

 

born: 1969, Summit, NJ

education

Bowling Green State University, MFA
Maryland Institute College of Art, BFA

selected awards/honors

Fellowship, Constance Saltonstall Foundation for the Arts, Ithaca, NY, 2005
Honorable Mention, Hoyt Mid-Atlantic Show, The Hoyt Institute of Fine Arts, New Castle, PA, 2003
Artist's Grant, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT, 2002

selected publications

FAESTHETIC Magazine, Issue #3, 2003

selected solo or two-person exhibits

Breathing Space; Collaborative Video Installation, Loupe Gallery, Prattsburgh, NY, 2005
Intimacy, Memory and Imagination, Antioch College, Yellow Springs, OH, 2004
Pattern and Touch; Prints and Paintings by Kathleen Thum, 2002

selected group shows

Mapping, ALL Gallery, New Haven, CT, 2005
Drawing and Print Exhibition, Gormley Gallery, College of Notre Dame of Maryland, Baltimore, MD, 2005
Cabin Fever, Art Site, Wellsville, NY, 2003
FAESTHETIC and 55dsl Present 8.5 x 11, 55dsl Flagship Store, New York, NY, 2003