Kara Knutson (b. 1989) is an American painter whose work traces the meeting point between the earth and celestial. Rooted in the Romantic tradition yet unmistakably contemporary, her paintings emerge from veils of atmosphere, earth, celestial motion, and elemental color. Light is the subject of transformation and illumination of the sublime. This current body of work marks a new phase in her practice, a continuation of her long dialogue with the wonderment and terror of the universe. What began as explorations of florals and figurement has become an alchemical return to origin, where weather pattern, sky motion over vast amounts of cosmic time, and soul are indistinguishable. Her painting process is slow and intuitive- working in thin washes and layers of oil and glazes as meditations on revelation to produce highly atmospheric and breathable yet anchored emotion. She relies heavily on capturing the essence of nature, often painting partial or complete works outside to let the earth breathe back into the painting. Kara lives and works in southeastern Wisconsin, drawing inspiration from shifting skies and seasons, gardens and forests. Her paintings feel at once ancient and otherworldly, an elegy to the earth finding its way back to the stars.