I am interested in the space between sentiment and formalism, between beauty and its shadow. My work, by appropriating and adding to the collected evidence of my life, pays homage to art’s unique ability to give permanence to the fleeting.These works began when I found ten sheets of paper screen printed with an anonymous yet resonant blue rectangle. They wrestle with the physical space of an island—the sea and sky that surround it---as much as that specific state of mind---detachment, separation, peace—for which island is a metaphor. Much like a snow storm or an illness (or quite presciently, a pandemic), islands isolate us. They lay bare the essentials required to carry on. Depending on how you are made,this reality can conjure solace or stress in equal turns. That dichotomy, I hope, is held in perfect balance here. Whether you see these as drawings, collages or poems (and I believe they are all three), the intentional act of arranging, the ordering or syntax we normally associate with writing, is essential to their understanding. My islands are meant to be read, not just seen.

Pam Sutherland is an artist residing in Richmond, VA who works in drawing, collage and installation. She received her B.A. in Studio Art from the College of William & Mary and her M.F.A. in Painting from Washington University in St. Louis. She has taught at the Collegiate School since 1998 and considers her students among her greatest influences. Pam received the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Fellowship in 2005 for Drawing. Solo shows include Souvenirs of Daily Life at Second Street Gallery in Charlottesville in 2001; one he Art, an installation at the Orange Door Gallery in Richmond in 2003; New Drawings at ADA Gallery in 2004; Too Much Sugar at Main Art Gallery in September 2006; and both Esoteric Blanket in January 2007 and Ghosts from a Middle Place in February 2010 at Kathryn Markel Gallery in NYC. She exhibited her sculptural paintings in Acts of Arrangement at the Page Bond Gallery in Richmond in September2013 and revealed her works on paper series Gray Matters at the Workhouse Art Center in Lorton, VA as part of the VMFA’s Professional Fellowship 75th Anniversary exhibition in June 2015. Her collaboration with sculptor Jere Williams,The RelevantScrap, was shown at Randolph Macon College’s Flippo Gallery in September 2016 and traveled to Mary Baldwin College in 2018. Work from the current Island Grammar series will be in the Taubman Museum’s Homeward Bound Triennial Exhibition in November. Pam’s work was published in the Open Studio Press’ Studio Visit in 2008. She is also the 2009 recipient of the Theresa Pollak Prize for Excellence in Fine Art given by Richmond Magazine. Her work is in several public collections including the University of Virginia, the Federal Reserve Bank, the Try Me Collection and Wachovia Securities.