About the Artist

ARTIST STATEMENT

I work across diverse media with methods that are rooted by a deep empathy with the living Earth. By using intentional processes and foraged materials, an intimacy with Nature infuses my work.

The deliberate, slow methods of drawing, printmaking, hand-papermaking with foraged fibers, and crafting pigments from local soils - mirror the pace of natural cycles and offer alignment with Nature’s rhythms. This is both healing and sustaining.

My creative practice can be seen in part, as my response to art-making in the context of our planetary environmental and climate crisis.

BIOGRAPHY

Since 2023 Patricia has been collaborating with local land agencies and non-profit organizations by conducting hands-on workshops to promote conservation and to educate about local ecologies in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her work has been exhibited in various venues around the Bay Area, including two solo exhibitions in 2024. She also teaches classes and advocates for the arts through the Atherton Arts Foundation.

Patricia studied in the Filoli Botanical Art Certificate Program in Woodside, California, and holds a B.A. degree in studio art and a master's degree in public administration, both from San Jose State University. During the 1990’s she was an exhibiting ceramic artist and a member of the Mountain View Potters studio. She is a horticulturist and ran her own garden design business for 7 years. After a gap where she focused on raising her two very creative children, she returned to her art practice full time. 

Patricia was born in Chile and immigrated to the USA with her family. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and a menagerie of trees.

Find her on Instagram:  @plarenas_onpaper