bell beecher pitkin

Cinema & Media Studies and French & Cultural Studies major

bell beecher pitkin is a multimedia artist who lives and works between New England, and the land of their childhood, North Carolina. They work primarily in photography to explore themes of youth, memory, and the family situated in the landscape and mysticism of the Southern United States. Their senior project has been a radical, year-long exploration which utilizes art as a tool for healing and reckoning. pitkin delves into the tangible remnants of their family history, utilizing cherished heirlooms, weathered photographs, and written family mythologies, to glean a deeper comprehension of the past while also reimagining it.

Clover Chain

archival inkjet print

Kitchen Table (Healing Table)

wood, tile, iron, water-slide transfer prints

Drawing Strength from Symbols

archival inkjet print, glass, cardboard, papier mâché, acrylic paint, polyurethane

When You Were the Age I am Now

sheer tulle, silver gelatin print, cotton thread, polyurethane

Mini-Portals 1 & 2

archival inkjet prints

all works in the Jewett Gallery

The main component of their project is rooted in the recreation of their kitchen table. First made by their aunt in the 1970s, pitkin uses the table's physical form as a base on which to emphasize the history and legacy of southern women in their family. Printed atop the tiled surface of the table are images of pitkin themself, their mother, Hope Nicholls, her sisters Gail Nicholls and Jane Nicholls White, and their grandmother, Gertrude "Scotty" Nicholls. Acting almost like a family tree, this piece provides a tangible space to exhibit the multiple generations of life in the South, and allows them to interact across temporal boundaries.

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