Kathi Davis Schuitema is a native of rural South Carolina. Growing up, she felt destined to be an artist. Her abstract work reflects both her passion for art and her connection to the environment. She describes hearing the birds, smelling the farms and dirt roads, and seeing the vibrant colors of her childhood. As an adult, Kathi lived and worked in urban settings, and these cultural intersections have influenced her work. She has fused all of these elements into her paintings and drawings in an abstract and expressionistic style.

Colorful Contemplations, the exhibit, is a series of pastel drawings that juxtapose beauty, happiness, sadness, trauma, and grief. They are expressions in color and form, each telling a story through colorful swooping gestures and punctuating marks. The use of color is a key element for Kathi: “I can still remember the green of a special dress my mother made for me to match my eyes, the purple of the iris in my grandmother’s flower bed, and the gray-green of the mysterious Spanish moss.”

Kathi lives and works in the Charleston area. She earned a BFA in Art from the University of Georgia and a BA in Studio Art from the College of Charleston.