Kuhns, Kristin

“Domestic Landscape” is a series of works consisting of acrylic and fiber on canvas. The series is intended to blur the distinction between the landscape and us. Are we separate from or inseparable from the landscape? Domestic imprints of our presence among the land are joined with interpretations of an external view of land. Within these works, the two are separated by seams of stitched domesticity.

My experience among landscapes is translated through coarsely laid brushstrokes on an exposed textural surface, imposing a sentimental experience upon the landscape. The traditionally painted, illusory landscape is intended to carry us into and through the painting, as if a suggestion of pathways will engage the viewer on a hopeful journey. 

Variations in flat or lustrous surface, in actual or illusional planes are intended to keep the viewers experience shifting. The lustrous surface is at times in stark contrast to flat matte areas of raw linen or cotton, used to create visual tension between illusional and actual space. The flat areas of stitched fabric are reminders of the domestic tradition of needle and thread. Early American girls expressed the naïve sentiment of hope and promise for a new tomorrow in the domestic tradition of stitched samplers. 

“The landscape holds me, wraps me up and gives me comfort as a blanket does. Amid a globally complex political landscape, my time among nature’s open spaces is evasive and indulgent, while the experience cleanses and forgives.”

We live in West Salem, my husband and our 6 year old daughter, there I maintain a studio at our home while teaching part-time at Willamette University and Baker Charter School. I began exhibiting art while living on Maui, Hawaii 25 years ago. Mary Lou Zeek Gallery in Salem represents my work today.

Approximately center $1100 Figure 1 Figure 2 Habitat 1 Kuhns 1 Kuhns 10 Kuhns 11 Kuhns 12 Kuhns 13 Kuhns 14 Kuhns 15 Kuhns 16 Kuhns 17 Kuhns 18 Kuhns 19 Kuhns 2 Kuhns 20 Kuhns 21 Kuhns 23 Kuhns 3 Kuhns 4 Kuhns 5 Kuhns 6 Kuhns 7 Kuhns 8 Kuhns 9 Small enclosure 5 $475