CHRYSALIS: The chrysalis is both a miracle and mystery embodied within a self-spun wrapping. The caterpillar transforms itself cell by cell reemerging as a butterfly: a beautiful pollinator. These figures, each a chrysalis, sit together in consecration of our relationship with the world around us and the future.

CHRYSALIS PODS: These hanging chrysalides, cocoons, seed pods, nests?…. marks a moment of wonder, of surprise, of a promise made to us by nature that the future will arrive…..contemplate the bees…..

POD PAINTINGS: The two Pod paintings housed in the Shed represented my first attempt as an artist to manifest an image inspired by a mysterious and unlabeled display case at the Field Museum in Chicago…to this day I do not know the nature of the pods I saw….nor truly do I know the nature of these pods I have painted. One of the blessings of Terra Incognita has been the opportunity to grapple with the idea of nests, seed pods hanging from the trees in the three-dimensional world. And for my pods to share space with a colony of bees is just too wonderful.

Carrera is an interdisciplinary artist and independent curator. In 2022, she received grants from The Ford Family Foundation and The Oregon Coast Council for the Arts supporting a mid-career retrospective at Newport’s Visual Arts Center. Carrera received a fellowship for Atlin Centre for the Arts in British Columbia and was nominated for the San Diego Art Prize as one of the “New Contemporaries” in 2012. Recent installations in Portland include a solo exhibit MUSEO at Blackfish Gallery, the Land Art Invitational 2022, and Portland’s Bldg 5 Residency in 2021. Past installations: San Diego Museum of Art, Oceanside Museum of Art, Grossmont College, Mesa College, and The Monterey Museum. Carrera’s installations and paintings often explore the nexus between science and art and man’s complex interactions with the natural world.