Our Abstract Habitat

I think this woman is my new hero. She's absolutely amazing. She was an extremely talented painter, boxcar artist, surfer and banjo player. Sadly, she passed away in 2001 at the early age of 33 from breast cancer. Here's an excerpt from an article about her after her death.

"A native of Washington, D.C., Kilgallen grew up in Kensington, Md. She earned a bachelor's degree in studio art and printmaking at Colorado College before moving to San Francisco, where she was living at the time of her death.

Kilgallen's work, which draws on elements of folk art, tramp art and mural painting, has at once a cartoon-like innocence and slight, ironic tang. Her subjects include hobos, alcoholics, carnies and surfer women (Kilgallen was an avid wave rider), portrayed in muted colors. In addition, working as a book conservator at the San Francisco Public Library a job she left in 1997 allowed her to study type fonts and styles, and words and letters figure prominently in her art. She was also an accomplished banjo player.

"She was shy, sweet, quirky, with an infectious sense of mirth, strongly supportive of others, and in possession of all the requisite muscles of a tough, determined artist," Hannah said.

-JOHN SANFORD (July 23, 2001)