Recession Art

In anticipation of our October 3 opening, we’ve asked the No Money No Problems artists about their work and how they are influenced by the economic slump. Here’s what Kathleen Thum had to say:

Kathleen Thum was born and raised in New Jersey. She received her BFA from Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore and went on to receive her MFA from Bowling Green State University. Kathleen is currently teaching drawing as a Visiting Assistant Professor at Skidmore College. She lives in upstate Northeastern New York with her husband and their 3-year-old son.

What can you tell us about your work in No Money No Problems?

I’m going to be exhibiting my drawings done on US dollars bills, one for every day of the month. My husband recently lost his job and we decided that I would be the primary wage earner for a period of time. I spent months applying for jobs and going on interviews, taking time away from my studio. Fortunately, (or maybe unfortunately, being that it still takes away from my studio time) I finally landed a temporary 2-year teaching job. But the whole process and situation made me think more in depth about the artist’s internal sense of value in creating art (and all the time, money, and commitment it takes) versus the external value of it, both economically and culturally. My drawings present this in a very transparent way, the support has a clear money value and the time commitment represents one a day. The imagery on the dollar bills is a continued exploration from previous work with many intuitive playful diversions.

What keeps you going as an artist through economic hardship?

Being creative and resourceful with what I have in materials and recycling artworks that failed. In a way, it’s like the challenge of seeing how long you can go with just the food in your kitchen even though you think you need to go to the grocery store. It’s the challenge of how many meals you can make, and the surprise of making meals that you never would have if you went shopping.