10/08/2026
There’s always something new to discover when you take a closer look.
For nearly a month now, Kathleen Ann Donovan’s The Standing Roots has been part of our everyday surroundings here at 4 Elements Studio. These beautiful, twisting, colorful bodies of work have become one with the space. I walk past them almost every day, and somehow, they’ve become familiar.
But today, I was tasked with taking another look. Getting some new photographs, stepping back to see the work as a whole, and getting up close to capture some of the smaller details.
And wouldn’t you know it, I started finding things I’d never noticed before.
Old records, including a broken copy of “A Groovy Kind of Love” by The Mindbenders (which I’m now listening to as I write this). Sheet music, song lyrics, little illustrations, painted figures, bits of fabric, tangled threads, and all sorts of unexpected objects tucked away within these pieces.
Things I might have completely overlooked had I not stopped for the fifth, tenth, or maybe twentieth time to really look.
It got me wondering about the significance of these objects. Where did they come from? What memories do they hold? What do they mean to Kathleen, both as an artist and as a person?
There’s this constant sense of discovery within the work. Colors shift and bleed into one another. Materials bend, break, twist, and intertwine. Fabrics, paper, found objects, organic and inorganic materials all come together to form something that feels incredibly alive.
And the more time you spend with these pieces, the more they seem to reveal.
So, with only a few days remaining, We'd like to invite everyone to come down to 4 Elements Studio and experience The Standing Roots for themselves.
The Standing Roots - Kathleen Ann Donovan
On view through October 16
We’ll also be celebrating the exhibition with a closing cocktail hour on October 16th, 5-6 pm so be sure to stop by before these pieces leave our space.
Hope to see you there!
