Rate My Professor Kathleen Thum

Kathleen Thum serves as Associate Professor of Art, Drawing and Graduate Coordinator in the Department of Art at Clemson University, positions held since 2017 and 2022, respectively. She earned a B.F.A. from the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore (1989-1992) and an M.F.A. from Bowling Green State University in Ohio (1998-2000), with additional studies at Kean College of New Jersey (1988-1989), the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York (1987-1988), and Studio Arts Center International in Florence, Italy (1999). Her academic career includes serving as Assistant Professor of Drawing at Clemson University (2011-2017), Visiting Assistant Professor at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY (2006-2011), Visiting Assistant Professor in Freshman Foundations at the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University (2003-2006), Instructor in Drawing at Bowling Green State University (2001-2003), and Instructor at the Jumpstart Pre-college Visual Arts Workshop at Oregon State University (2003-2004).

Thum's artwork consists of drawings, paintings, and wall installations that center on fossil fuel infrastructures. She obsessively renders pipeline forms to evoke the intricate production systems of industrial landscapes, portraying them as organic expansions that alter the earth and intermingling with subsurface biomorphic configurations. Her practice highlights the physical qualities of coal and oil, raising awareness of humanity's dependence on and disconnection from these materials; since the Deepwater Horizon spill, she has used motor oil in her works. Solo exhibitions include "Covering Carbon" at Biggin Gallery, Auburn University (2024) and UCF Art Gallery, University of Central Florida (2023); "Considering Carbon" at Turchin Center for the Visual Arts, Appalachian State University (2024); "Gathering Lines" at Wilson Hall Gallery, University of Alabama in Huntsville (2017); "Petrolia" at M.G. Nelson Family Gallery, Springfield Art Association (2016); and "Residuum" at Thompson Gallery, Furman University (2014). Group shows encompass "Man + Land + Water" at Winthrop University, "SouthxEast" at Florida Atlantic University, "Nowhere Everywhere" at Cambridge School of Weston, and Manifest International Drawing Annual Exhibitions (2014, 2015, 2017). As Graduate Coordinator, Thum oversees Clemson's MFA in Visual Arts program.