Kathleen Jacobs is an American artist whose sprawling minimalist works are an embodiment of the fruitful relationship between artists and nature. Jacobs’ process is rooted in the natural world: each work is made from a piece of raw linen that has been wrapped around a tree trunk and left for months or years, absorbing the patterns and structures of the environment. She then covers the linen with oil paint and pigments, highlighting the details left by nature over time–a true collaboration between Jacobs and the environment, with the marks and creases from the trees serving as brushstrokes. It’s a symbiotic relationship that showcases the beauty that comes when nature and humans work in harmony, rather than opposition.

Kathleen Jacobs' PLTZR (2024) captures the rhythmic movement of water through delicate, layered brushstrokes that mimic the reflective surface of a vast, undulating sea. Her use of texture and light invites a meditative engagement with the natural world, evoking the ephemeral qualities of water and its ever-changing form. The painting’s immersive scale and tonal depth transport the viewer into a serene yet dynamic experience of nature’s fluidity.