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IWU student makes giant Abe Lincoln out of post-it notes
By Michele Steinbacher
msteinbacher@pantagraph.com
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BLOOMINGTON — Miles Bair, director of the Illinois Wesleyan University School of Art, was looking over student Chris Killham’s work last year and made a suggestion: “He said, ‘You should work larger, make things bigger,’” the IWU senior recalled Tuesday. | Photo gallery | Video

“Well, I decided to run with it, you know, rub it in — and I’ve just made this ridiculously large,” he said.

Killham’s “Hugs & Kisses, Abe” uses more than 6,000 neon-colored Post-it Notes adhered to 105 posterboards to re-create a straight-ahead stare from America’s 16th president.

On Tuesday, he set the entire installation out on the floor of the IWU Hansen Student Center’s main floor as a practice run for an exhibit in April on campus.

“This is the first time I’ve spread the whole thing out, seen it all together,” said the 22-year-old from Chicago. He looked over the second-floor balcony, resting his arms on the railing.

On Tuesday, students passing through the student center couldn’t help but see the gargantuan image.

Aaron Gierhart, an IWU junior, was sitting on a couch waiting for some other education students when he saw Killham spreading out the posters.

“I caught it out of the corner of my eye. At first, I couldn’t figure out what he was doing,” said Gierhart, 21, of Rock Falls. “I was very curious. I thought, ‘Maybe it’s a map,’ and then, ‘Maybe it’s Einstein.’”

Gierhart walked upstairs to view it over the railing. Then he called his friend, Amy Grelck, a fellow education major. “I knew she had a camera, and I wanted a picture of this,” he said.

“He said it was a picture of Post-It Notes, but I had no idea what to expect,” Grelck said. “It’s so cool,” she added.

The future teachers said a class they’re now enrolled in is focusing on teaching art to children. Young students don’t always realize art materials can be more than crayons and paintbrushes, Grelck said.

“But, look — there’s Abraham Lincoln made out of Post-It Notes,” she said.

Gierhart said if he were a teacher he’d love to bring his class to view the artwork, which also could be integrating history and art in one lesson, he said.

It took Killham about 30 minutes to assemble the work Tuesday, and it was on display for about two hours.

But creating the artwork took nearly a year. Killham said he began last summer with an idea.

He traces it to a traditional black-and-white image of Lincoln. The artist re-assigned the shades to Post-It Notes’ standard colors. “Black became pink; gray, orange; and white, yellow,” said Killham.

Next, he used some math and a computer program to create a grid system to lay over the image.

Post-It Notes proved to be an ideal material because they were inexpensive and could be used to create the mosaic style he sought.

Since last summer, he’s spent Sunday afternoons building the posters, he said. Pasting the Post-it Notes to boards made the incomplete project mobile, he said.

If you didn’t stop by Hansen on Tuesday, don’t fret: “Hugs & Kisses, Abe” will be displayed at IWU again, starting April 7.

The student says he’s most influenced by pop artists such as Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein and Art Nouveau painter Alfonse Mucha. But he also credits his development as an artist to an addiction to bad science-fiction films such as “Plan 9 From Outer Space,” cartoons like “Venture Brothers,” and film noir favorites like “The Maltese Falcon.”

His favorite movie, “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” ties all of those together, Killham said.

So, how does a historic figure such as Lincoln fit in that mix?

“There were a lot of reasons for choosing Lincoln” as the subject, Killham said.

Growing up in Illinois and spending the past four years in Bloomington, where Lincoln practiced law as a circuit rider, has meant Lincoln is an ever-present iconic celebrity. But he also figured creating a piece on Illinois’ favorite son was timely.

“Next year is his 200th birthday, and the celebrations are being planned everywhere. And this year’s an election year, too, so there is a political aspect to it,” said Killham, who will graduate in May with a bachelor in fine arts, and a concentration in painting.

Even using Post-It Notes carries meaning.

“Lincoln’s an important footnote in history,” Killham said. “But this is the present: People can’t just be so reliant on him as an icon and say, ‘Oh, he was so great.’ They should do something themselves.”





Art on display



What: Illinois Wesleyan University Senior Art Exhibition

When: April 7 to April 22. Gallery hours are noon to 4 p.m. weekdays; 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesdays; and 1 to 4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.

Where: Merwin & Wakeley Galleries, School of Art, Illinois Wesleyan University, 6 Ames Plaza West, Bloomington.

Highlights: Exhibit will include works by eight IWU senior art majors, including Chris Killham’s “Hugs & Kisses, Abe.”

Information: Call (309) 556-3822 or visit www.iwu.edu.

Take a look
Illinois Wesleyan senior and artist Chris Killham's post-it note Abraham Lincoln creation is displayed on at Illinois Wesleyan Hansen Student Center's main floor in Bloomington, Illinois, Tuesday afternoon (March 11, 2008). Killham put his piece together for the first time in preparation for the Illinois Wesleyan Student Art Show in April. (Pantagraph/B Mosher)
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Reader comments on this story - 17 total

Note: All views and opinions expressed in reader comments are solely those of the individual submitting the comment, and not those of the Pantagraph or its staff.

The Extra Crispy JD wrote on Mar 13, 2008 6:27 PM:

" It is a cute gimmick, but nothing more. There is free computer software that you can download that will take any photo and plot out the pixelation needed to create a piece like the one in the article. How difficult can it be? It is the post-it note version of paint by numbers. Now that he has admitted that other versions are coming, I suspect he is using computer software to generate his "art". I give it an "A" for excecution, but a failing grade for originality. It is easy to impresss rubes. "

Doug Johnson wrote on Mar 13, 2008 4:48 PM:

" Chris is indeed a wonderful artist and a great guy! As an intern at the McLean County Arts Center he was one of the best! Just don't let him play with the office supplies. "

ckillham wrote on Mar 13, 2008 1:07 PM:

" Thank you all for your kind comments they're very encouraging and always nice to hear. In response to some of your comments I will say that pixelation has been done before and will most certainly be done again, but I think it really depends on how an artist follows through on each individual piece. I am a great admirer of Dali's but each of us clearly has different messages in our work. Mine being more about Lincoln himself and the pixelation itself, whereas Dali features Gala as usual and uses the Lincoln image as a more subtle feature that allows the painting to be more recognizable from further away drawing viewers in.

As for giving me my own museum I wouldn't mind that so much, but I can always use need more things to fill it. So, rest assured there are some similar works in their early stages. The next series will involve classic superheros and a larger Lincoln-sized figure.

If you have questions or comments feel free to contact me at ckillham@iwu.edu and be sure to check out catchmandkillham.deviantart.com to see what I've been up to throughout my college career. "

A Friend wrote on Mar 13, 2008 8:37 AM:

" I hate it when people get the facts half right. From 1833-1836 Lincoln served in his first federal office, that of Postmaster of New Salem; not Postmaster General.

With regards to Mr. Killham's pop art. He should acknowledge that this format of pixalating is a tired trick, but he put a fresh spin on it by using post-it notes.

He is a clever man. Let's see if he is more than a one trick pony.

Kudos to Salvador Dali. He did the Lincoln pixalation first. Google it and see the original before giving Mr. Killham his own museum. "

Nick Killham wrote on Mar 12, 2008 6:55 PM:

" Yay that's my brother, literaly "

kgabby714 wrote on Mar 12, 2008 6:49 PM:

" wasn't Lincoln POSTMASTER GENERAL? "

PT1984 wrote on Mar 12, 2008 2:52 PM:

" did you ever think of checking with 3M....perhaps you could be a spokesperson for them!!!!! Post-its FOREVER!!! "

PT1984 wrote on Mar 12, 2008 2:51 PM:

" Chris this is even more awesome than I imagined when you first "dreamed up" this project. You were definitely patient in getting this all completed and your mom is a saint for helping you find all the neon colored post-its!!!!! AWESOME JOB!!!! "

Just_Me wrote on Mar 12, 2008 9:17 AM:

" This is one of the coolest things ever! Another reason to love post-its!!! "

Mulley9 wrote on Mar 12, 2008 9:15 AM:

" This explains a lot. For some reason I'm missing all of my post-it notes.

At $16.09 for a 14/pk, that'll be $6895.71. But I'll take $6500 because of my discount at Office Max.

Office supplies jokes are lame, including this one. "

Egbert wrote on Mar 12, 2008 8:50 AM:

" Interesting. Good to see a young man who is well spoken, talented and who apparently has his head on straight. May you go far, young man. "

michelle24 wrote on Mar 12, 2008 8:48 AM:

" Yep, that's amazing! :) "

the dispeptic skeptic wrote on Mar 12, 2008 8:03 AM:

" Visually stunning. Well done... You deserve an "A"!!! "

tlh922 wrote on Mar 12, 2008 7:37 AM:

" This is amazing!!! Great work! "

3mom wrote on Mar 12, 2008 6:38 AM:

" Awesome job Chris! You are certainly creative. Your use of shading is spectacular. Using a different medium than what is expected, or what is the norm, took some critical "out of the box" thinking skills. Very impressive. "

Not so Political wrote on Mar 12, 2008 12:03 AM:

" there is money well spent ! "

ironmom wrote on Mar 11, 2008 11:50 PM:

" Fabulous job Chris. What patience you must have and as we know "Patience is a virtue". I'm sure it will be greatly admired. "
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