Russell Collection Inventory

Jill Pankey is currently an Instructor at Southwest Texas State University. During the past twenty years, Jill has established herself as an artist locally and in South Texas, particularly in the Coastal Bend area. Her two major influences are the Texas/Mexico border where she grew up and the fitness business she co-owned for fifteen years in Corpus Christi while simultaneously working on her art. She has concentrated her efforts in painting and drawing in oils, watercolors, pencil, pen & ink and pastels. Jill currently holds a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Texas-San Antonio. She has also received meritorious awards from state and local art organizations for her art works. "My work involves the study of the female form, influenced by twenty years of direct involvement with men and women of all sizes, shapes, and ages (1978-1998). After the realization that most women have the exact same issues of insecurity, body image, stress, and life in general became great information for my work today. We have a sisterhood. Being an advocate of fitness and teaching for years in the fitness industry, I am still very connected to that life style and how it affects our longevity, health and self-esteem. I have always been curious about the intense criticism that we place on our own bodies, especially as we age, and how society perceives women. It is my observation that the female body is attached to a social stigma that differs significantly from our male counterparts and youth oriented society. Commercially, our society still targets the group who is under thirty, thin, anti-wrinkled, non-cellulite and often chooses surgery to enhance a perfect body. The narrative paintings in my current work honor and celebrate a varied array of female forms through color and movement."

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