Caldera Artist in Residence
Caldera Arts Center
The Caldera Artists in Residence (AiR) program is a multidisciplinary residency based in Central Oregon that offers artists time, space, and support to develop their creative practice in direct relationship with the natural environment. The program brings together artists working across different disciplines and career stages for short-term residencies in a forested campus on the rim of a volcanic caldera.
During my residency at Caldera, I focused on expanding my practice of circular weaving, working at a larger scale than I had previously attempted. The circular form is central to my work because it reflects cycles, continuity, and the way experiences return and transform over time. Working at a larger scale also slowed my process and allowed me to respond more directly to the landscape and environment around me.
One of the pieces I created is titled El Ojo (“The Eye”). This work is about observation and awareness. I was thinking about how attention changes what we notice in the world—the movement of wind, shifts in light, and subtle changes in the land. The circular structure became a way to hold that act of looking, like a lens gathering and focusing experience.
Another piece, Búho (“Owl”), comes from a dream I had during the residency. In the dream, an owl and a hawk moved through a landscape filled with tension between natural and industrial spaces. I translated that imagery into layered textiles and color, focusing on the feeling of the dream rather than a literal scene. For me, the owl represents intuition and listening to inner vision as part of the creative process.
The third work, The Basin, was inspired by the Caldera landscape, especially the burnt forest and its textures. I was moved by the charred trees, open spaces, and the sense of renewal after fire. Through weaving, I worked with these impressions to reflect cycles of destruction, resilience, and regeneration.
Together, these pieces reflect my response to place, memory, and observation. Working in a short residency period, textiles allow me to hold fragments of experience—colors, textures, and impressions—and carry them forward through material form.