Artists come from all walks of life, but it’s not every day you meet a world-renowned painter with a background in electrophysiology. Painter Pamela Sukhum left her chosen biomedical career (a researcher in cardiovascular health and electrophysiology at the University of Minnesota) to pursue her true passion.
Her work will be on display at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum’s Reedy Gallery September 8–November 7—the first time in seven years that the artist has shown her work in Minnesota.
The Art of Pamela Sukhum: Hymns to Nature was inspired by Sukhum’s love of immersive outdoor experiences, including stunning Minnesota landscapes depicted in her Azure Skies series, revealing blues, pinks and purples so often found at dawn and dusk during Minnesota summers.
Her works emit metallic shimmers and glasslike shines from stroke to stroke, thanks to thickly and dramatically constructed layers of rich oil paints and fine detail work.
Sukhum draws on her science background for her art by mixing metallics into her paints, as well as other chemical agents, to reduce the drying times of her carefully-layered works. “I still have that heart of a scientist in me, as well as the artist,” she says. “I’m excited about being able to share a lot of the new work and also to be sharing it at the arboretum, which, to me, is such a perfect venue.”
Sarah Jackson is a media specialist at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. She lives and gardens in Minnetonka. Learn more at arb.umn.edu.
