Kim Whitt has had a lifetime of involvement in the arts. From student, to teacher, to administrator, she has been a student of and practicing artist in dance, fiber/textiles and painting.
Whitt is a fiber artist and painter, holds a B.A. in Cultural Anthropology and dance from The University of Southern Mississippi with graduate studies in Process Pedagogy, and is certified to teach K-12 in visual and performing arts. Kim taught creative movement, visual art and drama for 10 years, is a past Fellow member of the Mississippi Craftsman’s Guild and has taught weaving to all age levels, beginner to advanced.
Currently, Kim is focusing her artistic talents on abstract landscape painting in oil expressing an intuitive sense of place through the use of color, line and shape. Inspired by the works of Wolfe Kahn, Mark Rothko, and Color Field painting, Whitt adds the element of intersecting line, reminiscent of the weavings she’s done for over 30 years. Details are left to the viewer, completing their own personal connection to place.
“My hope is that when the viewer stops for a moment at a painting or views it from a distance, stillness and harmony speak to the stillness within.” Some are provocative, metaphysical landscapes meant to bring you in. The color, the light and the texture are used to reveal a unique quality and feeling of a place. The more abstract work seeks to explore color and texture.
“I have always been comforted by nature and feel a deep connection to the elements. My studio was rebuilt after Katrina using only wood from the trees that were lost and milled on site after the storm. They speak to me while I work. I am also very inspired by the environment around me.”
Ms. Whitt is retired from serving as the Arts Education Director for the Mississippi Arts Commission for eight years where she administered grants and provided technical assistance to schools, individual artists, teaching artists and organizations throughout the state. She oversaw the Teaching Artist Roster and the Visual Artists and Craftsmen programming for MAC in addition to developing arts education programming and initiatives. She and her husband John, a stained glass artist of over 30 years, have Sweetwater Studios, Inc. in Moselle, Mississippi.
My original intention with this body of work was to create weavings and paintings for a scheduled show at the Delta Arts Alliance later in 2020. I continue to explore the intersection of painting and weaving, and I wanted to challenge myself to create a new way of communicating my perspective as an artist. 2020 brought many unexpected challenges for the entire world - mainly to survive, as a planet, as a species, as a community, and as an individual. This work is a manifestation of how I survived and tried to understand.
I prayed, meditated, walked in nature, gardened, cooked and went to my sanctuary — my studio. I survived by going inward and these weavings show the collage of emotions, reflections, and day dreams of memories that reside in the heart and mind.
The metaphor of weaving speaks well for this past year and developing a painted warp, woven collage concept helped me express the dichotomy that was felt seemingly everywhere. I invite the viewer to read the work as symbols, poetry, and with the healing energy of nature in mind.
The isolation, fear, and quarantine are awful, but they are giving me time and space in an unfamiliar, uncomfortable reality where my own creativity is my only portal of insight. There was great change while nothing was being done. There was a piercing of truth through many lies. Darkness was our guide toward the light. The end is only the beginning
The warps are painted with fiber reactive dye before they are woven. The weft is woven in with yarn, raffia, copper wire, moss, sticks, bamboo and painted canvas strips. Text is woven in or sewn on. Hand and machine stitching, embroidery and other objects are sewn on.
In the loom of life, let us weave joy. My hope is always to do just that.
