About Pamela Barrios

Bio / Resume

I grew up in Mobile, Alabama. In 1970 I moved to New York City and completed a BA in English at the City University of NY, Lehman College.

In 1977, at the NY Botanical Gardens, I began work and training in rare book conservation and book arts. This was followed by positions at the NY Public Library, Yale University Conservation Lab, and the NY Academy of Medicine. I learned traditional leather binding and decoration, and as an artist created book art and sculptural painted paper works.

I moved to Provo UT in 1990, to assume the position of rare book conservator at Brigham Young University, and remained at this job for 20 years. Concurrently I taught book arts at the University of Utah.

In 2014 I earned a BS in Studio Art, at Utah Valley University, and have been a practicing artist since then, specializing in oil painting.

Why I Paint

We call painted images on a flat surface “2-D”. But when we view them, our mind sees “3-D” images.

This is what fascinates me about painting and art. It’s an understanding of what our minds can do, and like to do. It’s what the painter Hans Hofmann called “push and pull”: the use of color, shape, and placement to make areas of a piece look closer or farther away. It’s the reason people stare at a painting and why I, as I paint, can lose track of time, also staring.

Sometimes it feels like a game, but I am serious about creating a scene or pattern that the viewer can experience, relate to, and remember. That’s why I paint.

Recent Shows

2024
- Utah Women Artists Exhibition, Sep 5–Oct 16, 2024, Utah Cultural Celebration Center, West Valley City, UT.
- Imagining Spring (solo show), Feb 1–24, 2024, Mozz Restaurant Gallery, 145 N University Ave, Provo, UT.

2020
- Nature and Memories (solo show), Feb 1–Mar 6, 2020, Salt Lake City Library, Marmalade Branch, Salt Lake City, UT.

2019
- Eccles Art Center Annual Statewide Competition, Aug 2–Aug 31, 2019, Ogden, UT.

2017
- Reflections: Recent Oil Paintings (solo show), July 7–Oct 27, 2017, BYU Library Auditorium Gallery, Provo, UT.

2016
- Emerging Artists Primavera, May 27–June 24, 2016, Meyer Gallery, Park City, UT.
- Utah Women Artists Exhibition, Mar 10–Apr 20, 2016, Utah Cultural Celebration Center, West Valley City, UT.