My artistic career began at Maryland Institute College of Art where I studied interior design with a concentration in fine arts. I exhibited my work in shows and galleries in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and Florida. Over the past twelve years, my creative endeavors turned to collage, encaustic, shadowbox, and assemblage. I hope to imbue my work with a spirit of spontaneity, play, and surprise. The use of color, composition, pattern, and design reflects my background in interior design.
As a catalyst for my work, I haunt antique shops and flea markets in search of arcane, vintage objects. A shadowbox may begin with a wooden piece into which I collage found, altered, or handmade papers. It might also include a screen, tape, paint, or three-dimensional elements.
Components of my abstract collages often include printed materials, rice papers, and altered papers. To achieve additional depth, texture, and luster I often incorporate encaustic. I find each step of creating these pieces: the searching, collecting, composing, and installing, to be exhilarating. I hope the finished work provides as rich a discovery for the viewer as it does for me.
Pamela Kostmayer is a mixed media artist born in Baltimore, Md. She works in college and is encaustic while studying with Katie Dell Kaufman of Tacoma Park. Her artistic career began at the Maryland Institute College of Art where she majored in interior design subsequently opening her own design firm. After 18 years in the business, she returned to study painting and drawing at the Mitchell School of Fine Arts and soon exhibited in shows and galleries in Baltimore, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Key West. Today she resides and works in Baltimore and Key West.
Key West Gallery • Bill Mack from Wonder Studios on Vimeo.