Kathleen Baker Pittman- "Anemnesis : Evoking My Father"

K Space Contemporary is pleased to present Anemnesis: Evoking My Father, a new installation by San Antonio artist Kathleen Baker Pittman. Through printmaking, sculpture, and repurposed nautical elements, Pittman transforms a sailboat built by her father into a deeply personal reflection on memory, inheritance, and family history.

The title Anamnesis, derived from the Greek word for “remembrance” or “recollection,” reflects the exhibition’s central theme: the power of objects to carry personal histories and evoke lived experiences. At the heart of the installation is a Windmill-class sailboat built by Pittman’s father, Bill Baker, whose innovative flotation design became the prototype for future boats of its kind. After the vessel became unseaworthy, Pittman chose not to discard it but instead reimagined its components as works of art.

The installation incorporates deconstructed sections of the boat alongside traditional and experimental printmaking techniques. Translucent linocut prints, inspired by family photographs and memories of sailing, are mounted on the boat’s original sidewalls and displayed so viewers can experience them from multiple perspectives. Voile sails printed from reduction woodcut plates, cyanotypes created from photographs of the boat in use, and a painted stern depicting the wake of a vessel in motion create an immersive environment that recalls the sensations and emotions of being on the water.

Kathleen Baker Pittman was raised in San Antonio, Texas, and received a Master of Science in Art from Texas A&M University–Kingsville and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Her multidisciplinary practice encompasses printmaking, painting, collage, mixed media, and installation.

Pittman has exhibited nationally and internationally, including a solo exhibition at the Carver Cultural Center in San Antonio and a two-person exhibition at Bismarck Gallery. Her work is held in numerous public and private collections, including the Instituto Municipal de Cultura, Turismo y Arte de Mazatlán, Mexico; the Museum of Printing History in Houston; the University of Texas at Austin; and Print Australia.

Since retiring from teaching art in 2022, Pittman has continued an active studio practice, participating in residencies at Ghost Ranch, New Mexico, and workshops in Oaxaca, Mexico. She has also curated exhibitions, including Printmaking from San Antonio and Beyond at Bihl Haus Arts, and serves as a docent at the McNay Art Museum.