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All artwork was donated through the generosity of Carmen Nochera-Wilkens.
Mark grew up in rural Hawarden, Iowa, where he attended West Sioux Community Schools. At 17 years of age, he obtained his pilot's license. He had a passion for nature, the environment and the simple pleasures in life such as reading, fishing, hunting, traveling but, most of all, he had and shared a love for art, and can be found in the subjects for many of his paintings and drawings. He later went to college to study Fine Arts, which was very dear to his heart. While at the University of South Dakota, Vermillion, he had the opportunity to study and work with renowned artist Oscar Howe.
"I began painting at the age of five. Encouraged and supported along the way, I continue to grow as an artist. My work is based on what I call 'combinism'. This is the combining of all the tools of the artist. The formal structural tools of color, line and form are used in a way that values the works throughout art history. Presenting the work in a somewhat raw state, reveals to the viewer the evidence or footprints of the creative process. The physical act of applying paint to a surface is as much a part of the piece as any other, including subject matter, color or the overall shape." -Mark Wilkens (1955-2017)
After Mark Wilkens passing in 2017, his wife, Carmen L. Nochera-Wilkens generously donated 51 watercolor paintings and 45 oil paintings to the University of South Dakota, College of Fine Arts.
This robust collection of landscape, figurative and non-objective paintings will be available for auction beginning April 18, 2022 through May 2, 2022.
All proceeds from the sale of Wilkens artwork will support the Mark Wilkens and Carmen L. Nochera-Wilkens Art Scholarship.
