July 11 - September 8
The Brinton Museum is hosting a two-person summer show featuring paintings, pastels and drawings by contemporary artists Kathryn Mapes Turner (Jackson, WY) and Jacob Aguiar (Boxford, MA). The two artists met at The Brinton Museum and have developed a friendship through shared interests in the topography of the Bighorn Mountains and surrounding region, its wildlife and rugged beauty. Both have engaged artistically with the area over many years, individually pursuing the essence and spirit of the land. While developing similar processes of drawing and painting, the resulting works of art are quite different. Aguiar’s paintings take their inspiration from the Bighorn Mountains’ form and structure, what the artist refers to as the landscape’s bones. Turner, by contrast, translates her interest in the anatomy of landscape and wild life into more dream-like images. This will be the first exhibition at The Brinton featuring the landscape, wildlife, and animal paintings by Turner and Aguiar side by side.
Artist Statement – Kathryn Mapes Turner
This collection marks a turning point in my creative journey. With each painting, I set out to go beyond representation—to understand the essential elements of a subject and express its spirit. The process became one of exploration and discovery, pushing me to take risks, work more intuitively, and welcome a greater sense of boldness and vulnerability in my art.
The paintings are layered and textured—woven with gestures, scraped edges, and soft, translucent edges. They may appear light and effortless, but they hold a deep reverence. They are rooted in my love for Wyoming, the place I hold sacred. Wyoming is where I was born and raised, and shaped by my lifelong relationship with its wild beauty.
Each piece is inspired by the landscape and the animals who inhabit it, as well as memories of growing up surrounded by this rugged, awe-inspiring place. Through this work, I hope to share not just what I see, but what I feel—that fleeting sense of wonder, connection, and vitality that nature offers when we are still enough to notice.
Artist Statement – Jacob Aguiar
The Bighorn area of Wyoming is a place I’ve visited many times over the past 7 years. As a Brinton Artist-in-Residence in 2018, I was immediately both captivated and inspired by the ruggedness and aliveness of the landscape: the many textures of dried grass, exposed rock, and dirt roads; the neutral blues, dusty violets and pinks of the mountains; the glistening sunlight streaming from behind a bank of clouds illuminating the planes of the earth; the imposing presence of the waterside cottonwoods. I’ve come to know the various convexities, notches, and rhythms of the mountains. I’ve spent many mornings traveling favorite dirt roads, with no agenda other than to try and capture the powerful beauty of this place. A long hike on Tongue Canyon trail, taking in deep breaths of fresh mountain air. These are the qualities, the moments that I have connected with in the Bighorns.
