December 2013

Pickens County Museum of Art & History in Pickens, SC, Features Works by Patricia Kilburg

The Pickens County Museum of Art & History in Pickens, SC, will present Fire Dance: Encaustic and Mixed Media Work by Patricia Kilburg, on view from Dec. 7 through Feb. 6, 2014. A reception will be held on Dec. 7, from 6-8pm. Exhibition of new paintings opens with a reception to meet the artist on December 7.

A studio artist residing in Greenville, SC, Kilburg has exhibited throughout the United States, and internationally through the Art in the Embassies program. Her work has been featured in several publications, including American Craft, Sandlapper Magazine, and Magazine of the American Folk Art Museum, NY. Her piece “Urban Mother and Child” was commissioned by the Women’s Board of Rush/St. Luke’s Hospital, Chicago, IL. She has exhibited at the Mint Museum of Craft + Design, Charlotte, NC, and South Carolina State Museum, Columbia, SC.

Kilburg studied at DePaul University, Chicago, IL, Greenville County Museum School of Art, Greenville, SC, and Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, TN. She has been a regular participant in classes and workshops affiliated with the annual Quilt Surface Design Symposium, Columbus, OH. She further honed her skills in mixed media by participating in the annual Encaustic Artists Conference at Montserrat College in Beverly, MA, and related workshops.

Kilburg is a Member in Excellence of South Carolina Watermedia Society, and a member of IEA (International Encaustic Artists). In the spring of 2013 Kilburg co-organized an encaustic exhibit at Metropolitan Arts Council, Greenville, SC, which featured works of 26 artists of the Upstate. She is currently teaching workshops in encaustic at her studio on Pendleton Street in Greenville.

When asked about her work, Kilburg said, “While exploring subject matter that interests me, I like to employ a variety of media. I enjoy working with paints, charcoal, fiber, pencil, inks and more. Recently I have been exploring the use of encaustic, the art of painting with wax. The practice goes back to the ancient Greeks, Romans and Egyptians, but today there are many new materials and tools available to the encaustic artist.”

Kilburg continued, “A recurring theme in my work is the ambiguity of time and space. By employing architectural, historical, and natural images, and the use of symbols, I seek to suggest eternity, mortality, and the fragility of existence. I aim for complex texture and simple forms in my paintings, with “secret places” for the eye to go and the imagination to be triggered. There is a sense of mystery and ambivalence, where reality is momentarily suspended, evoking the viewer’s own feelings and experiences.”

Fire Dance is sponsored in part by Earth Design, Pickens Savings & Loan and South Carolina Bank & Trust. The Pickens County Museum of Art & History is funded in part by Pickens County, members and friends of the museum and a grant from the South Carolina Arts Commission, which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts.

For further information check our SC Institutional Gallery listings or call the Museum at 864/898-5963.

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