Lillian Minix
Pyrography Artist
To say that Lillian Minix is a licensed taxidermist doesn’t quite get at the entire story or adequately describe what she does. She is also a pyrography, or wood burning, artist who works mainly with bone and flora. Minix grew up working mainly in ceramics, woodcarving, and salvage sculpture because all three forms are a vital part of Appalachian culture. Wood burning especially is a common art form in Appalachia, along with basket weaving, quilt making, and barn painting; and has been for hundreds of years. Wood burning, like most Appalachian crafts, is popular because of the easy access to the many resources used in creating the art. Deciduous and evergreen trees in the region like birch, basswood, pine, and poplar are easily found in the thick forests of Southwest Virginia, so wood burning is a prominent craft of the region.
Minix says that her work is strongly influenced by the Victorian Era, but more specifically the idea of preservation. “Victorians would go as far as to make jewelry from the teeth of deceased loves ones and to take photographs with passed family members for weeks or months before their burial,” she states. “Mourning wreaths were also common in the Victorian Era and were created by tinting strands of hair from the locks of dead friends and family.” There are three ideas from the Victorian Era that play key roles in her work: Vanitas, the wunderkammer, and floriography.
Vanitas, a style of still-life painting that alludes to Victorian curiosities collections, influences the way Minix displays her work and enhances the concept of physical preservation. The wunderkammer, also known as a cabinet of curiosities, influences the pieces that she uses in her work. Lastly the symbolism in Victorian floriography, or the language of flowers, creates
lush, eerie forms that represent Minix’s loved ones or significant concepts of life and death.
Having lived in Appalachia her entire life means that Minix is at ease using native art forms to explore these Victorian ideas. Lillian Minix takes seriously the heritage of the Appalachian region and understands that exploring the ideas of death can lead to dark and gloomy
artwork. She hopes to take something that has long been seen as a “craft” and to present it so that others will see the intricacies that make it art. “I work the way I do so that others may acknowledge the fine art principles that can be found in wood burning. I include fine detail in my works and mount them for gallery display so that they might be seen as formal fine art rather than only backcountry craft.”
Minix is originally from Salem, Virginia but moved to Emory, Virginia in 2011 to attend college. In 2015 she graduated from Emory & Henry College with Bachelor’s degrees in Philosophy and Fine Art. She currently resides in Abingdon, Virginia with her husband, Brett, and their black lab, Rixey.
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Last summer I decided to take a trip to the Scottish Highlands with my husband. We're avid hikers and also completely obssessed with abandoned buildings and history and we'd read some fantastic stuff about this trail being filled with collegiate churhes and crumbling parts of castles. So we're out having this awesome but super tiring day. The sun's out for pretty much the first time ever and we've been walking for miles. Right ahead of us sits this huge hill. I wouldn't quite call it a mountain but.... close enough. We soon realize that the only way to get to the nearest train station, which is about 3 miles away, is to heave ourselves over it. But sitting at the top is this magnificent lookout tower dating back to the 17 hundreds and I was dying to get a look inside. So after we get to the top and see the wonderful sites my husband and I kinda wander away from each other. He's off exploration something and I'm just staring into space exhausted. Something catches my eye though and I quickly notice it's a jaw... just a jaw bone. I look about and realize I'm standing in the midst of a sheep that had been torn apart and its limbs and fluff were scattered about me. I'm totally convinced at this point that it was a big cat attack because what other reasonable explanation is there for a sheep to be ripped apart in the wilderness. So I did the sensible thing. I picked up as much of it as I could and shoved it in my backpack to take home on the train.
Once home I have to tell you that it smelled pretty bad. As in so bad my cat even ran away from it. But I'd seen something on TV where people had boiled the bones to clean them and make them all white and shiny so that's what I did. Possibly the biggest mistake ever. It smelled something akin to lamb stew and decomposition. Grim. So after some trial and error I soon discovered that laundry detergent does a great job. So now all neat and tidy in my crockery cupboard next to a teapot sits some flowery smelling vertebrae, some sheep teeth and a jaw. Lovely. I've always had intentions of creating some sort of art piece with them. For a while I toyed with the idea of making the spine a nice cord handle for my bathroom light, Ed Gein style. But more than anything I thought engraving the bones would be beautiful. The main problem being that I'd never done anything like it before.
Well thank Heavens for Instagram because I was looking through all these beautiful taxidermy images and found the wonderful Lillian. She's pretty much the grandmaster of bone art and has created the most beautiful masterpieces that any lover of taxidermy would adore. Her work is truly inspirational and she manages to create something so dainty and pretty out of something so visceral and macabre... the skull.
Hailing from Southwest Virginia she's a pyrography artist. Born in Salem and now residing in Emory with her husband Brett and black lab Rixey she graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Philosophy and Fine Art from Emory and Henry College. She was kind enough to talk us through her background and some of her processes:
"Having lived in the Appalachian region all my life, I am familiar with the arts and crafts of the culture and heritage in the area. I grew up working in ceramics, wood carving, and salvage sculpture because it was a vital part of Appalachian culture. Woodburning is a common art form in Appalachia as well, among others like basket weaving, quilt making, and barn painting, and has been for hundreds of years. The craft is very popular because of easy access to many types of resources, like most Appalachian crafts. Deciduous and evergreen trees in the region like birch, basswood, pine, and poplar are easily found in the thick forests of Southwest Virginia, so woodburning is a prominent craft of the region.
Though woodburning has been recognized as an Appalachian craft for hundreds of years, it is only recently being widely accepted as a fine art form and not simply a craft. I work the way I do so that others may acknowledge the fine art principles that can be found in woodburning. I include fine detail in my works and mount them for gallery display so that they might be seen as formal fine art rather than only backcountry craft.
My work is strongly influenced by the Victorian Era, more specifically preservation. Victorians would go as far as to make jewelry from the teeth of deceased loves ones and to take photographs with passed family members for weeks or months before their burial. Mourning wreaths were also common in the Victorian Era and were created by tinting strands of hair from the locks of dead friends and family.
There are three ideas from the Victorian Era that play key roles in my work: Vanitas, the wunderkammer, and floriography. Vanitas, a style of still-life painting that alludes to Victorian curiosities collections, influences the way I like to display my work and enhances the concept of physical preservation. The wunderkammer, also known as a cabinet of curiosities, influences the pieces that I use in my work. The symbolism in Victorian floriography, or the language of flowers, creates lush, eerie forms that represent my loved ones or significant concepts of life and death. These concepts three-fold are what my work is based on the act of preservation."
I think we can all agree that the Appalachian region sounds like a macabre crafters paradise. Actually it's somewhere I've wanted to go for years...mainly because horror movies.
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ABINGDON, Va. – William King Museum of Art continues to celebrate the diversity of regional artistic talent with its 12th biennial exhibition, From These Hills: Contemporary Art in the Southern Appalachian Highlands, opening Friday, Oct. 16.
From These Hills is a major exhibition of new works by artists working in all media in Southwest Virginia, Northeast Tennessee, Western North Carolina, Southern West Virginia and Eastern Kentucky.
This exhibition is guest-curated by Stephen Wicks, the Barbara W. and Bernard E. Bernstein Curator at the Knoxville Museum of Art in Knoxville, Tennessee. Wicks has guided the Knoxville Museum of Art's curatorial department for 20 years. He manages the museum's exhibitions program and guides the development of its collections of East Tennessee-related art and international contemporary art.
"From These Hills is one of the most important things we do here at the museum," said Callie Hietala, director of exhibitions. "It gives artists who are living and working in this region an opportunity to show their work in a museum setting and have exposure to a whole new audience. At the same time, it gives them professional opportunities in the future. Many From These Hills artists have gone on to have solo shows or participate in group shows here at WKMA or at other art venues in the region."
Historically, From These Hills boasts a wide range of media and subjects with reference to this notable time and place. Wicks reviewed nearly 100 portfolios and selected the following 27 artists: Jennifer D. Anderson (Roanoke, Va.), Gerry Bannan (Roanoke, Va.), Laken Bridges (Telford, Tenn.), Jason Brown (Knoxville, Tenn.), Deborah Bryan (Johnson City, Tenn.), Virginia Derryberry (Asheville, N.C.), Travis Donovan (Vilas, N.C.), Lynn Duryea (Boone, N.C.), Cavan Fleming (Blacksburg, Va.), Gary Mesa-Gaido (Morehead, KY), Marcia Goldenstein (Knoxville, TN), Carl Gombert (Maryville, TN), Travis Graves (Elizabethton, TN), Jennifer Hand (Dublin, VA), Jean Hess (Knoxville, TN), Megan G. King (Johnson City, TN), Brett LaGue (Fincastle, VA), Paul Lee (Maryville, Tenn.), Allison Luce (Mooresville, N.C.), Lillian Minix (Abingdon, Va.), Amanda J. Richardson (Honaker, Va.), Ann Ropp (Johnson City, Tenn.), Halide Salam (Blacksburg, Va.), Brian Sieveking (Roanoke, Va.), Marvin Tadlock (Bristol, Va.), David Underwood (Jefferson City, Tenn.) and Katherine Wood (Roanoke, Va.).
"We want to help the artists in our region, and this exhibit is one of the most successful vehicles we have to be able to achieve that goal. It's been part of the mission of this museum since we opened our doors," Hietala said.
An opening reception is held Thursday, Oct. 15 from 6-8 p.m. and many of the artists will be on hand to discuss their work. This reception is free and open to the public.
On the same evening, WKMA's Van Gogh Outreach Program will be awarded with the annual Dominion ArtStars Shining Star Award by Virginians for the Arts, in partnership with the Dominion Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Dominion Resources, Inc.
"From These Hills" will be on display through Feb. 14, 2016.
For more information about this and other exhibitions call 276-628-5005 or visit www.williamkingmuseum.org.
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www.artsmagazine.com
ABINGDON, Va. -– William King Museum of Art continues to celebrate the diversity of regional artistic talent with its biennial exhibition, From These Hills: Contemporary Art in the Southern Appalachian Highlands, a major exhibition of new works by artists working in all media in Southwest Virginia, Northeast Tennessee, Western North Carolina, Southern West Virginia and Eastern Kentucky.
Artists working in all media are invited to submit images or, in the case of performance art, a DVD, for consideration. Materials should be postmarked by August 1, 2015. Applications can be downloaded on the web (http://www.williamkingmuseum.org/exhibitions/portfolio-submissions/) or picked up at the Museum.
The exhibition will be guest-curated by Stephen Wicks, Barbara W. and Bernard E. Bernstein Curator at the Knoxville Museum of Art in Knoxville, Tennessee. Wicks has guided the Knoxville Museum of Art’s curatorial department for 20 years. He manages the museum’s exhibitions program and guides the development of its collections of East Tennessee-related art and international contemporary art. He has organized dozens of exhibitions, including Higher Ground: A Century of the Visual Arts in East Tennessee, the first ongoing display devoted to East Tennessee’s art history and Facets of Modern and Contemporary Glass, which examined the expanding use of glass as a contemporary art material.
The 2015 exhibition will open in The United Company Contemporary Regional Gallery of William King Museum of Art, Abingdon, Virginia, on October 15, 2015, and will continue through February 14, 2016.
For more information about this and other exhibits call (276) 628-5005 or on the web at www.williamkingmuseum.org.
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From These Hills: Contemporary Art in the Southern Appalachian Highlands
October 16, 2015 – February 14, 2016
Opening Reception: October 15 from 6-8 p.m.
United Company Contemporary Regional Gallery
William King Museum of Art is proud to present the twelfth From These Hills biennial exhibition. Historically, this exhibition boasts a wide range of media and subjects with reference to this notable time and place. Our Guest Juror, Stephen Wicks from the Knoxville Museum of Art, reviewed nearly 100 portfolios and selected the
following twenty-seven artists:
Jennifer D. Anderson, Roanoke, VA; Gerry Bannan, Roanoke, VA; Laken Bridges, Telford, TN; Jason Brown, Knoxville, TN; Deborah Bryan, Johnson City, TN; Virginia Derryberry, Asheville, NC; Travis Donovan, Vilas, NC; Lynn Duryea, Boone, NC; Cavan Fleming, Blacksburg, VA; Gary Mesa-Gaido, Morehead, KY; Marcia Goldenstein, Knoxville, TN; Carl Gombert, Maryville, TN; Travis Graves, Elizabethton, TN; Jennifer Hand, Dublin, VA; Jean Hess, Knoxville, TN; Megan G. King, Johnson City, TN; Brett LaGue, Fincastle, VA; Paul Lee, Maryville, TN; Allison Luce, Mooresville, NC; Lillian Minix, Abingdon, VA; Amanda J. Richardson, Honaker, VA; Ann Ropp, Johnson City, TN; Halide Salam, Blacksburg, VA; Brian Sieveking, Roanoke, VA; Marvin Tadlock, Bristol, VA; David Underwood, Jefferson City, TN; and Katherine Wood, Roanoke, VA.
For more information about this exhibition and others at William King Museum of Art, visit www.williamkingmuseum.org or call (276) 628-5005.
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Learn the Appalachian craft of wood burning with Pygrography artist, Lillian Minix. The first in a series of two-hour workshops will focus on flora and fauna; future topics will include patterns, wood burning and watercolor, and handmade font. All experience levels are welcome. Pre-registration is required. Class is $45/person all supplies included or $35 if you supply your own woodburner. Ages 15 and up. To register, contact Montana Torrey, Director of Education, by phone at (276) 628-5005 ext. 112 or by email at mtorrey@wkmuseum.org.
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Bristol Herald Courier, Washington County News: August 7, 2015
Lillian Minix likes to think outside the box.
When the art and philosophy graduate from Emory & Henry College painted her self portrait, she didn’t use a canvas. She used the skull of an Impala, an African antelope.
And, since she doesn’t like to paint, she traded her brushes for a wood burning tool.
The end result is an art method called pyrography, the art of decorating wood and other materials with burn marks resulting from the application of a heated tool.
Minix’s work — most of it was part of her senior art show at Emory & Henry College — will be on display at the Town Square Center for the Arts through August. The art center is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday through Saturday. A reception for the guest artist is 6 to 8 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 7, in downtown Glade Spring.
Minix said she was a curious child, fascinated with biology. She remembers finding a dead frog and laying it on her dresser to watch it dry. “I realized I had a strange and odd interest in things like this. I collected bones and dried plants.” She also credits her artistic grandmother for inspiring her to create an uncommon form of art that few artists have mastered.
But, it’s the process that has special meaning to Minix, who is a pyrography artist and taxidermist. Minix specializes in European mounting, which displays only the skull of animals, but she has a taxidermy license in case she has to remove flesh from animal bones.
She draws the designs on the skulls — most of which are ordered online — with a pencil, and then burns the design onto the bones using a tool that heats to 1,300 degrees.
To protect herself, she wears a crematory-grade mask that filters organic and chemical materials. “I gear up in full apron with leather gloves and leather sleeves that go over each finger inside the gloves so that I don’t burn myself.”
The contrast between the stark white bone and the sepia brown marks are stunning, but the designs represent more than meets the eye. Minix uses Victorian floriography, the language of flowers, to create designs that best capture the qualities the person possesses.
Her self portrait features a bouquet of blackberry, rhododendron and bay leaves. “The rhodendron produces an absolute stunning azalea-like flower, but if you burn the plant it becomes very toxic,” she explained. “Blackberries are covered with thorns, and a bay leaf flavors food, but you cannot eat it. So, all of these plants are fruitful in their own way, but toxic in other ways,” said Minix.
“My self portrait is representative of the faults I see in myself. There are a lot of things I need to work on in my life and hopefully one day I will be able to make a piece that represents myself with no toxicity in it,” she said.
Minix relies on research to create her work. According to her, 19th century artists created work called “Vanitas,” a symbolic work of art.
“For example, it was common for someone to have a wreath above their deathbed containing a past loved one’s hair or an old necklace. It was a reminder of their physicality,” Minix said.
“I’m using bone to preserve my loved ones in the same sort of way.”
One of her favorite pieces was inspired by her husband, Brett Janavice. Minix chose a wildebeest skull from Cape Town, South Africa, to represent his strong qualities. Based on her wedding bouquet, Minix used the flowers, alstroemeria, which means friendship and devotion; white jasmine, which means affection and amiability; baby’s breath, which represents purity of heart; and liatris, which signifies enthusiasm. The floral arrangement is tied at the base, a symbol of unity.
“I feel like I am giving these animals a second chance of life. And, that’s something I hope people learn from my exhibit. It’s never too late for second chances.”
Minix primarily works on a commission basis. Visit her Facebook page to learn more about Lillian Minix Pyrography. Follow the artist on Instagram where she has more than 3,500 followers.
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Town Square Center for the Arts: August 2, 2015
Lillian Minix's Necromantics: A Pyrography Show About Life, Death and Preservation will be on display August 1 – August 31, 2015 at Town Square Center for the Arts in Glade Spring, Virginia. The show's opening reception will be held Friday, August 7 from 6–8 p.m.
Opening will feature light hors d'oeuvres and wine and beer. Admission is free.
"Pyrography, better known as woodburning, and European mount taxidermy are my mediums of choice. This show utilizes both of these mediums throughout."
Minix is originally from Salem, Virginia and comes from an area where naturally found bones are common. She has been using bones in her artwork for many years.
"My home of Appalachia is also a large source of many crafts, including pyrography. I first woodburned when I was younger but began woodburning on bone only several years ago. This show depicts my most recent niche, which I have coined 'boneburning.'"
This particular show also highlights on Victorian Vanitas, a culture in which people prolonged the lives of their loved ones by preserving personal items or physical pieces of them like their teeth or hair. Minix says that Vanitas has become very important to the symbolism in her work and personal thoughts about life and how she can "attempt to preserve [her] loved ones as well."
She hopes that "displaying her work again will show the dynamics of pyrography as an art form of the Appalachian region."
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Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery: August 1, 2015
Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery is pleased to announce that its August 2015 art exhibition, the 5th
Annual “Nature” Online Art Exhibition is now posted on their website and can now be viewed online. The theme for this artexhibition is Nature. Subjects that would encompass the “Nature” theme would include geographical subjects, landscapes, natural objects, wildlife and natural environments. An international art competition was held in July 2015 which determined the art for this exhibition. The gallery received submissions from 22 diffe rent countries and also received entries from 36 different states. Overall, 660 entries were judged for this art competition. Congratulations to the artists who have been designated as this month’s category winners, along with the winning Special Merit and Special Recognition artists. The gallery commends all of the winning artists for their artistic skill and their creativity, as this online art exhibition is indicative of their creativity. To proceed to the galleries 5 th Annual “Nature” online art exhibition follow this link: https://www.lightspacetime.com/nature-art-exhibition-august-2015/.
Each month Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery conducts themed online art competitions for 2D and 3D artists. All participating winners of each competition have their artwork exposed and promoted online through the online gallery to thousands of visitors each month.
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William King Museum of Art: February 5, 2015
William King Museum of Art is proud to host this multi-media exhibition modeled after Jan Hurt’s many collaborative exhibitions from far and recent past- in particular the Tarot Card Art exhibition held at the Starving Artist Café in the late 1990s. Mapping the Cosmos began with thirteen hand-selected artists from the region who then asked one other artist to participate. The total twenty-seven artists randomly selected part of the Cosmos from a hat and were allowed to interpret their topic in any media they choose. The artists then sought out, in light of current knowledge or totally disregarding current knowledge, to re- imagine, explore, and reinterpret the Cosmos.
Carole Blevins, Nancy Brittelle, Leila Cartier, Shawn Crookshank, Stephen Curd, Tracy Ference, Kathy Gibian, Olivia Gibian, Lindsey Holderfield, Greg Howser, Jan Hurt, Perry Johnson, Barbara Kozero, Val Lyle, Aaron McIntosh, Pat Mighell, Lillian Minix, Peter Morgan, D.R. Mullins, Miles Polaski, Ron Sachs, Ralph Slatton, Eric Drummond Smith, Misty Stratton, Ray Stratton, Nadya Warthen-Gibson, Koreloy Wildrekinde Mcwhirter
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Washington County News: March 30, 2015
Opening Thursday, April 1st in the Founder’s Special Exhibit Gallery:
Emory & Henry College graduating art majors present their year-end projects at the Arts Depot’s Founder’s Special Exhibit Gallery. The show opens April 1, and a meet-the-artists reception during Abingdon’s “First Thursday” Gallery Hop on April 2 will be held from 6-8 p.m. The show continues through May 9.
Those exhibiting include:
Lillian Minix of Salem, Virginia (Medium: animal skulls and wood burning)
Minix current body of work is based on “decadence and romanticism through the use of Victorian floriography, or the language of flowers.” This body of work uses Victorian-styled draftsmanship and floriography to create lush forms. Minix says “Victorians would go as far as to take locks of loved ones’ hair and tie them into their own or make jewelry with them.” She describes how some of the floral arrangements in her pieces are “tied with a bow in a nod to Vanitas, a Victorian-era preservation based still life movement that studies the permanence of life and objects.” Minix has a fascination with fire, and since she cannot bring the fire directly to a gallery, she says “my pieces use the closest thing possible– pyrography or fire writing.” By burning these designs into bones she says her artwork “serves to exist some time longer than many other artistic mediums. While the bone my work is on might create a discomfort for some viewers, it also reminds us that we do not exist forever.”
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Emory & Henry College: March 2, 2015
My current body of work is based on decadence and romanticism through the use of Victorian floriography, or the language of flowers, and accesses my underlying concerns of making my artwork as permanent as possible.
This body of artwork uses Victorian-styled pyrographic draftsmanship on animal bone and is a direct reflection of individuals around me and my attempt to preserve them as people.
A collection of sixteen works, this show is a dedication to my years spent in the Emory & Henry College Art Department as well as my close loved ones. This show will be on display February 27–March 18, 2015 in the Student Works Gallery of Byars Hall at Emory & Henry College. The Student Works Gallery of Byars Hall is open Monday–Friday 9 a.m.– 5 p.m. and weekends 12 p.m.–6 p.m. My gallery talk and reception will be held Monday March 2, 2015 at 7 p.m.
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www.facebook.com/events/lminixpyro
William King Museum of Art: March 4, 2014
This exhibition will highlight a variety of work made by Kappa Pi: the Honors Art Fraternity of Emory & Henry College and its future inductees. Art students include Mary Ruth Pruitt, Kimberly Craig, Becky Sharkey, Linda Hurley, Lindsey Smith, Rayn Singree, Lillian Minx, Siera Speer, and Ashley Helbert, the show’s curator.
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A! Magazine for the Arts: March 26, 2014
Fifteen Emory & Henry College art students were selected as participants in the Exchange 81 Juried Exhibition.
The exhibition is an annual collaboration between Emory & Henry College, Hollins University and Roanoke College, all small liberal arts schools along Interstate 81 between Emory and Roanoke, Va. The exhibit includes 27 works from each participating art department, making a total of 81 works selected for the show.
The Emory & Henry students selected for this exhibition are Kimberly Craig, Ashley Foster, Ashley Helbert, Jordan Hensley, Linda Hurley, Laura Leonard, Melissa McDuffee, Luke Meador, Lillian Minix, Anna Orfield, Kaitlyn Pruitt, Mary Ruth Pruitt, Katherine Rendleman, Cheyenne Singree and Lindsey Smith.
E&H Art Professor Charles Goolsby said the E&H contingent of students represents a variety of majors at the college, which, he says, "is one of the distinct characteristics of a small liberal arts education."
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