30 Apr ARTIST SPOTLIGHTS: KAETLYN ABLE

Kaetlyn Able creates her multimedia art in a way that at times may seem more akin to lacemaking, or the almost-finer-than-the-naked-eye-can-see form of embroidery called petit point, than to simply brushing paint onto a surface. Such a complex approach seems appropriate, considering the depth and complexity of meaning she aims to portray.

Photo: Charley Able

A recent work like Garden Party, for example, presents a proud portrait of a buck, his ears alert, his eye agleam. So faithfully is the mule deer’s visage rendered in black-and-white scratchboard that a viewer might initially describe it as realistic — apart from the fact that the representation also veers into uncanny realms. The antlers, on closer inspection, are covered in an ornate lace pattern, and in between the points are draped fine filigrees of spider webs, which Able carefully etched into the scratchboard surface using tattoo needles. With equal attention to detail, she also deployed acrylic paints to portray the web’s weaver, suspended from a filament high above the buck’s head, along with hovering moths and bees, a cocoon clinging to one protuberance, an inchworm on another, a nuthatch perched in anticipation of a feast, and an abundance of flowers and foliage — based on the bounty of the artist’s own garden — that deck out the deer’s head like a bonnet for a springtime festival.

Doe | Scratchboard and Acrylic on Panel | 24 x 18 inches

“I sought to build a dynamic community of creatures and flowers, all relating to each other in symbiotic relationships,” Able explains of the composition, adding that some of its inspiration was originally derived from the complexities of caring for her two sons — one now 14 years old, the other 12 — while also looking after the needs of her parents. “So, I was taking the overwhelm I was feeling and transforming it into something beautiful and life-affirming.”

Big-Hearted | Scratchboard and Acrylic on Panel | 30 x 30 inches

Art provided Able with an outlet for processing her feelings as far back as she can remember during her childhood in Wayland, Massachusetts. “When I was 2, my mother noticed I had that inclination, so there was a little table and chairs in the family room where I could just sit and make things.” Throughout school, she “was always an art kid,” and she eventually followed that passion by earning a BA with Honors in Studio Art from Wellesley College and a Master of Fine Arts through the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. A move with her husband to Montana in 2011 and the parenthood that soon followed brought fresh inspiration to her artistic practice, tempered by a touch of practicality. “I needed something that was technically rigorous but that I could put away really quickly up on a shelf,” Able says with a laugh. Her art has continued to grow more complex and labor-intensive, done in a style she succinctly describes as “contemporary, with a Western point of view.”

Frost in the Forecast #2 | Scratchboard and Acrylic on Panel | 12 x 12 inches

Able’s work is represented by Radius Gallery in Missoula, Montana; and Altitude Gallery in Bozeman, Montana.

Based in Marin County, California, Norman Kolpas is the author of more than 40 books and hundreds of articles. He also teaches nonfiction writing in The Writers’ Program at UCLA Extension.