BARBARA MCILRATH VISION TO FORM
June 7 - July 12, 2025
BARBARA MCILRATH
Barbara McIlrath lives and works in the dramatic landscape of the Driftless Region of western Wisconsin, near Lake Pepin, where seasonal changes in the sky, land, and water inspire her devotion to perceiving the world more deeply through painting and drawing. Her current body of work responds to the evolving landscape of a historic farmstead under transformation.
Growing up outside of Chicago, Barbara earned her BA degree in Humanities at Illinois Wesleyan University, MS degree at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, and BFA degree at Minneapolis College of Art & Design, where she received the Vanderlip Award at graduation. She has worked as a graphic designer, illustrator, instructional designer for Mayo Clinic, and faculty member at Minneapolis College of Art and Design.
ARTIST STATEMENT
This exhibition introduces a new body of work documenting my path on the transformation of a historic farmstead. The theme of “vision to form” pertains to making drawings and paintings as well as designing a house and restoring the land. For over twenty years, my artistic process has been focused on observational responses to my valley in Pepin, Wisconsin. Recently this has changed. Beginning in 2023, I have been shaping the landscape, then documenting the changes through photography, drawing, and painting. Rather than representing the landscape as something “outside of me,” I am now in a daily process of changing the land with a construction project and conservation reserve program. This process began with a team effort of architectural site planning - a collaboration with our architect, builder and family. We walked the fields noting solar orientation and views. We mapped the land with satellite and drone images. We created a site plan and began to move the earth. As the construction process continues, each day brings new discoveries that find their way into my studio. I have translated these experiences into new forms: ink drawings, outdoor gouache paintings, and large-scale oil paintings, which are the pieces of this exhibition.
- Barbara McIlrath, 2025
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"The Way I Come to a Pond's Edge" 2024 | gouache on paper | $1,000. image: 7.75 x 19" | frame: 16.75 x 28"
"Silent, and Soft, and Slow… " 2024 | oil on mounted canvas | $4,800. image: 36 x 48" | unframed
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"Your Place in the Family of Things" 2025 | oil on canvas | $2,800. image: 12 x 36" | frame: 13.25 x 37.25"
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The Threshold 2025 | oil on canvas | $2,300. image: 24 x 18" | frame: 25.25 x 19.25"
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Anticipation
2025 | oil on canvas | $2,300. image: 18 x 24" | frame: 19.25 x 25.25"
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New Structure
2024 | gouache & carbon ink on paper | $800. image: 6.5 x 10" | frame: 10 x 16.5"
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Collins Plumbing: October 2024 | carbon ink & gouache on paper | $500. image: 4 x 8" | frame: 7.75 x 11.75"
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Worker Bees: October 2024 | carbon ink on paper | $450. image: 2.25 x 6" | frame: 8.25 x 11.75"
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Pool House with Trucks 2024 | carbon ink on paper | $450. image: 2.25 x 6.25" | frame: 8.25 x 12"
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Two Shed Forms
2024 | carbon ink on paper | $450. image: 2.25 x 6.25" | frame: 8.25 x 12"
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Parade of Pines & Clouds
2024 | carbon ink on paper | $500. image: 4 x 7" | frame: 9.75 x 12.75"
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The New Neighbors: October 2024 | carbon ink on paper | $500. image: 4.5 x 7.25" | frame: 10.25 x 13"
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Pine Lines
2024 | carbon ink on paper | $500. image: 5.5 x 7.75" | frame: 11.5 x 13.75" INQUIRE
Plumbers: October 2024 | carbon ink on paper | $450. image: 2.25 x 6.25" | frame: 8.25 x 12"
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Path of Pines
2024 | carbon ink on paper | $450. image: 2.25 x 6" | frame: 8.25 x 12"
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Land Lines
2024 | carbon ink on paper | $450. image: 2.25 x 6" | frame: 8.25 x 11.75"
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Working Late 2024 | carbon ink on paper | $450. image: 2 x 6" | frame: 8.25 x 11.75"
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Snow on Snow
2024 | oil on mounted canvas | $1,100. image: 12 x 16" | frame: 13 x 17"
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"They Don't Wade in So Much as They Are Taken" 2024 | oil on mounted canvas | $2,200. image: 20 x 20" | frame: 21 x 21"
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First Evening Panorama 2024 | oil on canvas | $2,800. image: 12 x 36" | frame: 13.25 x 37.25"
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Three Evenings Panaroma Before 2012 | oil on canvas | $2,800. image: 12 x 36" | frame: 13.25 x 37.25"
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Constructing Pines & House: October 2024 | gouache on paper | $800. image: 6.25 x 10" | frame: 13.5 x 16.5"
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"I Go Among Trees and Sit Still" 2024 | oil on canvas | $800. image: 6.5 x 10" | frame: 13.25 x 16.5"
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Primavera in the Valley 2025 | gouache on paper | $1,500. image: 15 x 19" | frame: 23.25 x 27"
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Primavera & the Creek 2025 | gouache on paper | $1,500. image: 15 x 19" | frame: 23.25 x 27"
Primavera, "Nature's First Green is Gold" 2025 | gouache on paper | $1,500. image: 15 x 19" | frame: 23.25 x 27"
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Diggers: September 2024 | gouache on paper | $800. image: 6.5 x 10" | frame: 13.25 x 16.5"
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Tom's Truck: October 2024 | gouache on paper | $800. image: 6.75 x 10" | frame: 13.5 x 16.5"
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"O Dirt, Help Us Find Ways to Serve Your Life" 2024 | gouache on paper | $800. image: 6.25 x 10" | frame: 13.25 x 16.5"
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"But What in This World is Perfect?" 2025 | oil on canvas | $4,800. image: 24 x 48" | frame: 25.5 x 49.75"
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Footprint: July
2024 | gouache on paper | $900. image: 8.5 x 12" | frame: 15.5 x 18.5"
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