Rocks ooze time. When I look at rocks, I imagine the eons of geologic movement that created them. This vastness of time dwarfs our fleeting human lives, yet connects me deeply to the natural world — both in its immensity and in its particulars. To lovingly study stone is to place humanity within a larger, epochal scale of time, one we must reckon with as we face the consequences of our impact on the planet.

I think of my painting process as geology in fast-forward. I build up layers of paint, then scrape them back, revealing textures and allowing the materials to speak in their own voice. In this play of surface and depth, unexpected and powerful moments emerge. Each work becomes both a portrait of rock and a meditation on time, endurance, and change.

Tara Kraft is a painter based in Seattle, Washington. Her practice centers on rocks as portraits, exploring deep time and the human experience through layered, textured surfaces that echo geologic processes. She has been awarded residencies at Isle Royale National Park in Michigan and Capulin Volcano National Monument in New Mexico, and was selected for the Saint Catherine’s Island Virtual Residency in Wales. Kraft has exhibited widely across the Pacific Northwest and internationally, including solo exhibitions at Confluence Gallery and the Kirkland Library. Her work has been featured in Women United Art Magazine, Art Seen Magazine, and Floresta Magazine.