Nature Inside

Kelda Van Patten

August 7–29, 2021

#plantsofinstagram #urbanjungle #plantsmakepeoplehappy 

A lesser known product of the quarantine is the rise in houseplant sales and social media forums dedicated to indoor gardening. While civilizations have cultivated nature within the home for thousands of years, the recent craze demonstrates how people use domestic horticulture to deal with loss and anxiety. Influenced by online representation of the cultivation of life in a year of lockdown, Kelda Van Patten’s new series of photographs, Nature Inside, playfully disorientates the exhibition of houseplants within domestic and digital spaces. Kelda cuts, reassembles and collages her photographs to confuse depth and flatness, highlight imperfection, and transform plants into hyperreal objects. She uses whimsy and humor to reference loss, isolation, containment, and representation. 

Sincere thank you to the Regional Arts and Cultural Council for a generous grant in support of this exhibition. 

Kelda Van Patten is a visual artist and art educator residing in Portland, Oregon. Kelda’s photographs create disorienting pictorial spaces that merge photography, painting, and collage. Kelda holds an MFA in Craft and Material Studies from the Oregon College of Art and Craft/Pacific Northwest College of Art, as well as an MAT from Lewis and Clark College, and a BFA in Interdisciplinary Arts from the San Francisco Art Institute. She has recently exhibited her work locally at the Blue Sky Gallery, Strange Paradise, and Carnation Contemporary. In 2020, Kelda was honored to be selected in the top 200 for Photolucida’s Critical Mass.