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a literary journal published by the Black Earth Institute dedicated to re-forging the links between art and spirit, earth and society

Kathleen Caprario


memoryLOG 3

Abstract form made of leaf colors and shapes with dotted line pathways on top
acrylic, aerosol paint, ink on collaged and restructured papers
36″ × 69″ irregular edge


memoryLOG 2

Abstract form made of leaf colors and shapes with dotted line pathways on top
acrylic, aerosol paint, ink, gold leaf on collaged and restructured papers
36″ × 65″ irregular edge


memoryLOG 1

Abstract form made of leaf colors and shapes with dotted line pathways on top
acrylic, aerosol paint, ink on collaged and restructured papers
37″ × 47″ irregular edge


De-COMP 2

abstract brown, yellow and green watercolor
watercolor on paper
15″ × 20″


De-COMP 1

abstract brown, yellow and green watercolor
watercolor on paper
15″ × 20″


The “memoryLOG” and “de-COMP” works are an interpretive record of my residency at the HJ Andrews Experimental Forest, Blue River, OR and its Log Decomposition Site, and are a reflection on the subjective nature of time and the relationship of self to the environment.

The “de-COMP” watercolors were painted on-site and are works that fluidly capture and explore patterns of environmental remembrance through observed and re-imagined micro forms.

Landscape is frequently considered in Western societies as merely the backdrop against which human activity occurs that alters and consumes its natural resources. In this way, it is similar to wallpaper, an important but often overlooked environmental influence.

The “memoryLOG” collages capture the repeated patterns, colors and textures I experienced at HJA and reinterpreted in the studio. The process of their making echoed the forest itself and was one of creation, destruction and (re)creation. The irregular edges and physical form of the collaged papers creates an immediacy and direct relationship for the viewer and asks the question, “How am I shaped by my environment?”

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Kathleen Caprario traded the concrete canyons of New York City for the real canyons and broad skies of the Pacific NW and has established herself as a widely exhibited artist and art educator. Her work explores the relationship of self to nature and the intersection of interconnected systems and patterns found in nature that have a scope and duration outside of our generation’s lifespan, cultural aesthetic and experience. Caprario’s honors include an Oregon Arts Commission Individual Artist Fellowship, Jordan Schnitzer Black Lives Matter Artist Grant, Modesto Lanzone Mostra Award and three Ford Family Foundation Mid-Career Artist Residency Awards. Caprario is a founding member of the Gray Space Project, an artist member of Eugene Contemporary Arts and writes for the Register Guard’s online and print publication, Café 541.


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