By Kat Tabor
Lane Community College arts instructor Kathleen Caprario-Ulrich’s work is influenced by her engagement with the land, particularly her 2024 artist residency at the Pine Meadow Ranch Center for Art & Agriculture in Sisters, Oregon. Through a combination of visual and written narratives, uneasyWONDER examines themes of climate change, identity and cultural narratives tied to place.
The Roger Hall Gallery at LCC will host uneasyWONDER, a solo exhibition by r Caprario-Ulrich, from Feb. 24 to March 20.
The exhibition features new works incorporating painting, installation and written text. One of the centerpiece installations, “Living In A Postcard” blends slashed and burned acrylic with Whychus Creek silt on canvas, reflecting the artist’s experience in Central Oregon.
“When I arrived for a month-long residency last August at the Pine Meadow Ranch and Center for Art & Agriculture just outside of Sisters, I wasn’t greeted by the trope of a postcard-perfect Western landscape, but rather by acrid air and smoke-draped mountains — a study in desaturated hues and a reminder of the increasing impact of climate change on the land and us,” Caprario-Ulrich says in her artist statement.
Accompanying the visual works are three blog posts written during her residency at Pine Meadow, providing insight into her creative process and environmental observations. The exhibition also includes the opening scene from her feature-length screenplay, Living In A Postcard, inspired by the landscapes and people of Central Oregon.
Born and raised in New Jersey, Caprario-Ulrich transitioned from a career in textile design in New York to becoming a visual artist, educator and writer in Oregon’s Willamette Valley as outlined in her gallery artist statement. Her work frequently explores themes of environmental sustainability, land use and cultural pluralities through patterns and motifs.
In uneasyWONDER, she incorporates hand-cut and stenciled patterns of the Rocky Mountain bee plant — a resilient species symbolizing hope amid climate uncertainty. Mirrored surfaces in her installations invite viewers to reflect on their relationship with the environment according to Caprario-Ulrich .
Caprario-Ulrich’s work has been recognized through numerous fellowships and residencies, including the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Ucross Foundation, Djerassi Foundation and Vermont Studio Center. She has also received the Jordan Schnitzer Black Lives Matter Artist Grant and an Oregon Arts Commission Individual Fellowship.
She acknowledges the Pine Meadow Ranch Center for Arts & Agriculture and the Roundhouse Foundation for supporting her 2024 residency and the work that emerged from it.
For more information about uneasyWONDER, visit Kathleen Caprario-Ulrich’s website or on Instagram@kathleencaprarioulrich. More details on Lane Community College’s art gallery can be found at Lane Community College’s art gallery.
