We met Jennifer Parham Gilomen a few years ago, when she was an Artist-in-Residence at the McColl Center for Art + Innovation. Since then, we have loved following her work, popping up in exhibitions around Charlotte. Jennifer uses domestic interior spaces, objects, patterns, silhouettes and materials that explore questions related to self-identity. Her ongoing investigation of “memory objects” explores how we define our own personal identity through recollection – of  people, places, and things from our past.

Jennifer in a handmade dress constructed from mixed media paintings, faux fur, velvet, and upholstery fabric

HappeningsCLT: Describe yourself in three words?
Jennifer Parham Gilomen: Inquisitive, Stubborn, Overzealous.

HCLT: Who or what inspires you artistically?
JPG: Elegant patterns and unexpected combinations I observe in the natural world.

HCLT: When did you realize you were an artist?
JPG: When I discovered it was physically impossible for me to be bored. Too many questions and endless curiosity compel me to create things that help me make sense of the world.

HCLT: Where can we see your work?
JPG: My studio in Lake Wylie or on a billboard on Tryon Street as part of ArtPop! (4899 S.Tryon Street; South of Woodlawn road at Billy Graham Parkway)

HCLT: Tell us about your current body of work?
JPG: My current works incorporate dense patterns and layers of flowers, honeybees, and birds. The resulting piece may be a life-size silhouette of a wolf made out of flowers and birds, or a dress made out of collage and mixed media materials, or a 2D painting of a WWII fighter pilot flying through clouds made from hundreds of individually-cut flowers and birds.

HCLT: What do you think is the most valuable art experience in the Carolinas?
JPG: The McColl Center for Art + Innovation on North Tryon. Their residencies and programming reveal the inherent value of the arts by advancing them into our community in necessary and relevant ways.

HCLT: What book is on your nightstand right now?
JPG: There are two: Centered Riding by Sally Swift and Whole Heart, Whole Horse by Mark Rashid.

HLCT: Best meal in Charlotte?
JPG: This is embarrassing to admit but I don’t go out for dinner very often. I’d rather pick some vegetables from my garden, throw something on the grill, and enjoy a nice bottle of wine in the backyard with my family.

HCLT: What is up next?
JPG: I’ve got work to do in the garden, a bunch of sewing projects to complete, and a slew of riding lessons on the calendar. Someday I would love to be an artisti-in-residence at Headlands, or a Georgia Fee Residency Artist. In the meantime, I shall continue to follow the advice of my late Professor, Paul Martyka, “Now get to work.” He is much loved and greatly missed.