"People in Landscape/Paintings" by Suzy Kitman
Currently on display at Washington State University Vancouver Engineering Life Sciences building main-floor gallery.
Suzy Kitman is an accomplished local artist in the Vancouver area. She will be on hand to talk about her artwork and answer questions Nov. 14 from 2 - 4 p.m. in the gallery.
The series of oil paintings focus on portraits of people in natural settings. Using oils and traditional techniques, Kitman depicts modern people in un-modernized nature. Her work feels both contemporary and classical. Kitman gives equal weight to the people and the scenery around them in her paintings. The people she paints do not always look out at the viewer, so they are not a typical portrait.
Kitman says her work is meant to "challenge and explore the ways we recognize people and places while asking the questions: What does the viewer bring to and impose on the scene? How do we know someone from behind? Are we using the land or are we part of it?"
Kitman studied art at Kenyon College, the National Academy of Design School of Fine Arts and earned her master's degree in fine arts from the University of Montana.
Kitman's work can also be seen at Proper Eats and The Pines Tasting Room in Portland, South Bank Kitchen in Hood River, Ore. and The White Bird Gallery in Cannon Beach, Ore. To see more of Kitman's art, go to www.suzykitman.com
For more information, contact Erin Dengerink Madarang, WSU Vancouver gallery director, at madarang@vancouver.wsu.edu, or 360-546-9551.
Entry to campus exhibits is free. WSU Vancouver galleries are open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday. WSU Vancouver is located at 14204 N.E. Salmon Creek Ave., east of the 134th Street exit from either I-5 or I-205. Parking is available at parking meters or in the blue lot for $3.00.