If you haven’t seen the work of Cottontown visual artist Wilma King now is your chance.
Check out this virtual exhibition of King’s art and read about her background and inspirations below.
Jasper had the great pleasure of touching base with visual artist Wilma King this week and we asked her a few questions about her work. We’re delighted to share details of our exchange with you.
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Jasper: When did you first begin to pursue visual art? Where and when did you train, or are you self-taught?
Wilma King: I remember an incident in fourth grade that helped me focus in on my love of art and design. My teacher, Ms. Hendrix, knew how to inspire and cultivate creativity and internationalism. She read books to us, held in-class competitions, and infused applied learning into our coursework way back then. Our school was on a military base in Fort Greely, Alaska which helped in the spirit of all of these concepts. My mind was full of dreams of being a nurse like Clara Barton, until she announced a fashion design competition for us girls. My classmates who saw my design convinced me that I would surely win – but I didn't. So, I launched this compulsion and intrigue to design paper dolls for my sisters, friends, and anyone who would allow me to do so. It was an experience that allowed me to delve deeply into individual, and cultural preferences for design, color, shape, size, and form.
But it was in junior high school that my art teacher helped and encouraged me to see a broad range of ideas and topics from which to draw and paint. In eighth grade, I won a scholarship to what was then the Columbia Art School (a part of the museum), and sold my first painting that year, as well.
My first job, literally two weeks after graduating from the University of South Carolina, was with an international trade magazine, while still learning about cultural preferences and communication design.
I have a BA degree in art studio (advertising design) from the U of SC and went on to earn a MA in Journalism (PR and Advertising) from Texas Southern University (Houston, Texas), because I always felt that there should be a collaboration between words and images. I taught graphic design, computerized design, or some form of public relations design most of my career, beginning with launching, teaching, and designing the first courses and curriculum in commercial art here in Columbia at Benedict College. From that point, I taught at the Art Institute (Houston, TX), O'More College (Franklin, TN), and was an Associate Professor in PR at both Western Kentucky University (Bowling Green, KY), and Rochester Institute of Technology (Rochester, NY).
Jasper: Where did you grow up?
King: I was born in Lexington, SC, and continued to “grow up” in Alaska, and Columbia (Lower Richland area near Hopkins). My father was born and raised in Louisiana, ten miles outside New Orleans (St. John Parrish), so that's also part of the “growing up” experience. I have lived in eleven different states and did domestic and international sabbaticals that took me to a cumulative nine months of slow travels and teaching abroad in Italy.
After more than 30 years of doing some of the things that I found interesting and exciting, and to become my mother's primary caregiver, I moved back home to SC.
Jasper: What mediums in visual arts do you typically use and why?
King: My very wonderful art professors at USC, particularly Jim Edwards, taught me that acrylics are extremely adaptable and can convincingly disguise as other paint mediums, so as a painter, which is my medium of choice.
At the beginning of the COVID pandemic, I sought ways to bring people together over a meal, coffee, or drinks. Nursing homes and hospitals were closed to visitors making it impossible to share meals with elderly, ill, or hospitalized family and friends -- so I began painting on glassware -- wine glasses, wine bottles, mugs, vases, etc. (using oils): Table Companions was born! A "table companion" is someone that you enjoy sharing a meal or drink with.
Jasper: Who have been your greatest influences as an artist?
King: Dony Mac Manus, sculptor/founder of the School for Sacred Art in Florence, Italy, and Giancarlo Polenghi, the school's director of the master’s program who is an Italian art historian and who also teaches theology of the body. They both helped me to understand that the purpose and power of art is to elevate the status of individuals in communities and in society!
Jonathan Green has given me some very good advice and critique on my work, as well.
Now, each day, before I begin to paint, I study some of the great Christian art. I enjoy Biblical stories through the eyes of Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, Peter Paul Rubens, Cristofo de Predis, Rogier van der Weyden, Rembrandt, Vincent Van Gogh, and even Salvador Dali.
I have had the great privilege and opportunity to visit many churches and museums across the US and Italy, particularly the Uffizi, The Vatican Museum and St. Peters Cathedral several times, on numerous occasions, as well as the Prado in Madrid. I also love two fashion museums focused on telling the stories of the family: Ferragamo and Gucci. A yet-to-realize goal is to see Rembrandt’s The Return of the Prodigal Son in the Louvre.
Jasper: What do you feel makes your art unique?
King: I enjoy telling my stories as well as those of people I have met along the way. An avid nonfiction reader, I try to incorporate a level of authenticity, through descriptive and narrative detail in my paintings. I focus on the story to give it broader meaning – that is, the painting’s relationship-building potential. People often comment on my style. I paint from memory, not photos (unless commissioned to do so), and I rarely use references. Various elements in each painting are carefully outlined to show that the story is a composite of different places and spans of time.
Of course, I believe Table Companions fills a different type of need and experience than merely doing handprinted glassware because I am finding a unique way for people to share being together and building memories over meals. I am still telling their stories through perhaps flowers, colors, etc.
Jasper: Who is your favorite SC-based visual artist and why?
King: There are three. I am watching and loving Gerald Erley's paintings! His technique and artistic ability are unapologetically akin to that of the "great masters,” not only in his artistic ability, but also in the way he commands his storytelling.
Jonathan Greene has been a favorite for a very long time. I love his use of color and form, and the stories of the African American experiences in the south. He depicts an enjoyment, pride, and love for life that is seldom seen these days. His viewpoint and perspective are necessary against a backdrop of sadness, anger, and bitterness in the world.
Finally, I have always loved the works of my former drawing professor, Phillip Mullen. I learned to be meticulous in the details and still develop a style distinguishable from everyone else.
Jasper: What are you working on now, will we get to see it, and if so, where, and when?
King: I try to produce at least one painting a week. I sometimes take time out to tell my own family's stories. To that end, I ended 2021 with an addition to my private collection titled: “Grandparents” 12/30.
I began 2022 with a painting titled: “Wings to fly,” to be included in an upcoming exhibit along with six other paintings at the Richland Library’s “The art of being: Woman” exhibit – February.
