I signed up for Gayle
Wimmer’s fibers course as my very first elective in graduate school. The
description emphasized installation and the use of photographic processes
though I knew absolutely nothing about fibers. I would take this class four
more semesters, still knowing very little about the medium by the end of my
graduate degree.
Gayle turned into one my most
influential mentors at the University of Arizona. I enrolled in her class every
term and she would have served on my thesis defense if she was not in Poland on
sabbatical. On a technical level, she taught me a process I utilized in my
MFA show (ethyl acetate transfers onto cloth, Kleenex, and paper bags).
Artistically, she helped place my interest in family as subject matter into a
broader context. It was also through her thoughtfulness, kind demeanor and
interactions with students that I learned how to become a better professor.
She had great impact on me as
a woman with an international art reputation, one who lived alone with her
beloved cat dedicating her life to her work, and one who traveled extensively
to fuel her practice. I learned about grant writing through Gayle as she
planted the idea that applying for Guggenheim and Fulbright fellowships were
essential. It was through her practice that I learned what I could become
through hard work and dedication.
I became familiar with Petah
Coyne’s installations with horsehair from Gayle. Whenever I see a photograph of
an Eastern European haystack, I think of her. I can clearly see her staring at
me over the rims of her glasses after asking a poignant question and I could
recognize her distinctive blocky handwriting fourteen years after last seeing
it.
Recently, I decided to make an
artwork dedicated to our last phone conversation in January 2007.
I searched for her online, hoping that I would not find an obituary, but that
was indeed what I discovered. Last month while I was on the residency in
Wyoming mapping out a plan for this artwork, she died at the age of 69 in Pennsylvania the very same week. This information brings great sadness and makes it
imperative that I create this piece.
All the obituaries mention
the impact she had on her students. I am not alone when I say that a great
artist and professor passed away last month. Gayle Wimmer will be missed.
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