Pamela
Sumner is a graduate in Communications and Fine Arts from St. Lawrence
University with additional studies at the University of Florence in Italy,
Harvard, MIT, Boston University and UCLA. Her mother was an artist and
her father was a photographer. During Sumner's career in design and marketing,
she was design director of a major museum and marketing director of two
international design firms. She now devotes her energy to the pursuit of
painting combining traditional materials imported from Asia with American
influences and experiences.
photo by Gaby Ray © email:tworays@mindspring.com
As a teenager, Sumner was very much influenced by the artist neighbors working all around her in Provincetown, Massachusetts, particularly the abstract expressionists: Robert Motherwell, Adolph Gottlieb and Franz Kline. Kline and Motherwell studied oriental brush painting and calligraphy. As is evident in their work, they were drawn to the power of the strong brushstrokes in black on white. These artists served as role models for Sumner who combines the strength and lyricism of traditional brushstroke techniques from Asia with western sensibilities." see also exhibitions, critique