Much like the itinerant folk musicians of the 18th and 19th centuries that fascinated Margaret Kilgallon, the artist herself had a penchant for wanderlust. Following trains from town to town in between her exhibitions, Margaret had a passion for studying the local color, the tall tales, and the everyday lives and pursuits of regular Americans. Rustic main streets of little towns with their mom and pop stores were ripe for exploration. All inspiration and fuel for her art. These trips, as well as local fairs, flea markets and auctions, provided glimpses into the folk traditions of the US. I have always had an admiration for things that are well made, or not even well made, what you have to make in order to live Kilgallon explained. A key figure in San Francisco's mission school scene, which also included Kilgallon's husband Barry McGee, friends Christo Hanson, Ruby Neri and others, Kilgallon shared with the group a passion for surf and skate culture, punk and independent music, craft and folk art. While this assembly of artist friends all had varying degrees of studio instruction, they possessed a common fascination with the naive arts and crafts, often made anonymously. This type of artwork retained its humanity, rough around the edges and honest. The world was only given a scant few years to know Margaret Kilgallon. She passed away on June 26, 2001, having delivered her first and only child Asha just 19 days prior. And only 33 Margaret had succumbed to complications from breast cancer. To hear directly from her friends and family, Margaret's was the flame that burned brightest. The tragedy of her death can sometimes eclipse how very vibrant and alive she was in life, the kind and noble friend she was, though this is clearly visible in her art. Margaret Kilgallon's presence lives on through the power of her work, the inspiration it has and continues to provide. Kilgallon's work contains so many things we feel like we've encountered before, drawn from our own commonplace travels and experiences, everything adds up to a shared memory. At times, her work looks like a scrapbook featuring the objects and moments Margaret collected. Reconsidered, recontextualized, balanced, overlapping, stacking upon each other. These pieces of the past could have just as easily been sourced from the pages of Faulkner novel as they could have been from a thrift store in Western Pennsylvania or a surf shack in the East Bay. Poetry can be found in the rhythm and arrangement of the seemingly random text that is scattered about her work. Antiquated terms and forgotten nomenclature from earlier eras and clandestine pursuits, coupled with a color palette of bright reds and mellow greens influenced by Indian miniature paintings. Consigned by the original owner, untitled blinded fate from 1998, was originally purchased from the beloved luggage store gallery, a nonprofit art space in San Francisco. The work was later featured in the 2005 Cal Arts Theatre Red Cat retrospective in the Sweet Buy and Buy, as well as the recent retrospective, that's what the beauty is, both at the Aspen Art Museum, as well as the exhibition's second stop at the Cleveland Mocha. The work is made up of four differently sized panels clustered together but not attached to each other. Each wood panel has soft rounded corners with finishing nails running along the perimeter, as often seen in co-gallance work. A little red bird is parched atop the upper left corner like the tip of an antique weather vane. A portrait of a young woman sits at upper right, her head within a shape that recalls both an illuminated manuscript, as well as the numerical flags that would pop up on the sort of brass cash register one might find at a soda fountain or general store. Inveilup being the bird at upper left, the word blinded sits within rolling black hills, topped by silhouettes of two bending trees, the typography akin to what Margaret had employed periodically for her graphic design projects. Anchoring the bottom is the largest panel of the four fate with fat and all caps and the little letter E shoved to the side. Margaret's iconic red is propped up by a black drop shadow, giving letters dimension. These elements are not fragments that add up to a hole, but more a grouping of somewhat disparate objects, like a collection and a curiosity cabinet. When presented together there is some cryptic narrative, some unknowable reason co-gallon felt they belonged together, possibly recalling a moment or a memory. While her work is very personal at a time's precious and sentimental, co-gallon was also a force. She lived the purpose and knew full well what behavior she would not accept from others. Margaret lived and created a rejection of any elitism, always inquisitive, adventurous, supportive, overly generous, and fully participatory in her community. Margaret's patience was not meekness but an uncompromising stoicism.