Artist and Former Wildfire Fighter Kate Lund Addresses Nature With Exhibit at Pacific's Cawein Gallery

FOREST GROVE —How do we orient ourselves to the natural environment?

Artist and former wildland firefighter Kate Lund explores the question with a series of drawings that will be on display at the Kathrin Cawein Gallery at Pacific University from Nov. 4 through Nov. 22. An opening reception at the gallery, which is located in Pacific Hall, 2043 College Way in Forest Grove, is scheduled for Monday, Nov. 4, from 4 to 6 p.m. 

“I know the sound of wood snapping insidean unstable tree and that fire sounds like a freight train as it burns through the canopy of the forest,” said Lund, who lives in Silverton, Idaho. “I have quietly studied the intricate patterns of lichen hanging from trees as well as the slow, ominous expansion of thunderclouds.”

Her drawings reflect her understanding, showing an appreciation of nature’s beauty while also communicating a sense of apprehension and anxiety. She combines broad, urgent mark-making with delicate rendering to illuminate this sense of tension.

Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 1 to 5 p.m.