faculty profile

Isabella Kirkland began studio practice as an installation maker, building painted sculptures and sculpted paintings in mixed media. On returning to the west coast in 1990, after a decade in New York, she switched to oil paintings based on research in the biological sciences. Three main reasons for this shift were: 1) to reduce her own ecological footprint; 2) to focus on subject matter that most interests her; and 3) to make works that have longevity. At present, she is studying the results of the Census of Marine Life. Since the oceans' ecosystems are some of the least studied and understood of our planet, her aim is to make durable images of oceanic biota, using the most permanent painting materials currently available.