meg kaczyk: still, life.

Aurora Loop Gallery is thrilled to present meg kaczyk: still, life. Meg Kaczyk states: “Still, Life.” points to the truth that somehow, rain or shine, loss or gain, life asserts itself, unfolding into the next flowering. Still life scenes are stability, fruition, identity, domesticity. These paintings are a sequel of sorts to my previous body of work (and book), “Notes from Next to the Bed: A caregiving love story in words & pictures”, which reflected the intimacy of caregiving for my husband, Joe, and the preciousness of our last days together.  From May through December 2025, I drew and painted from direct observation into bound sketchbooks I called my “Daily Practice Art Journals”. The decision to paint only from life was intentional. I wanted the journals to capture my new life as I was living it daily, in real time. What did I see in front of me? That was what I painted. I was gardening, I was cooking, I was setting my roots down, recovering ground after the loss of my husband. In the journals, I sketched detail in water soluble graphite on the left hand of the spread and included various writings – expressions of whatever was going on at the moment. On the right hand, I worked in gouache from the still life set up – no sketch, just straight to paint, complete in one session. In the studio, I used the Daily Practice Journals’ gouache paintings as my starting point and referred to the graphite botanical drawings and writings for details and compositional elements. I love what happens in the process of translation, interpretation and materiality. Writing has become a formative element of my creative expression, guiding inquiry and themes across disciplines. In conversation with the paintings is a manuscript of poems, written from the two years immediately following Joe’s death. Much has been written about the stages of grief. The book of poems, “Still, Life.” adds to the canon my experience of moving through loss, transition and recovery. (Click images to view larger slideshow.) View fullsize Figs, Meg, Kaczyk, one of quintet, 10" x 10" View fullsize I Am Inside Who I Was, Meg, Kaczyk, 36" x 72" View fullsize My Heart Opens, Meg, Kaczyk View fullsize Quiet Is The Most Basic Form of Prayer, Meg, Kaczyk meet & greet The gallery will be open late, Saturday, May 2, from 5:00-8:00 pm for a meet & greet with artist Meg Kaczyk. artist talk The gallery will be open late on Wednesday, May 13 from 5:30-6:30 pm for an artist talk with Meg Kaczyk. map to gallery map to gallery about meg kaczyk Meg Kaczyk’s paintings are informed by the natural world, contemporary poetry, meditation practice and life’s transitions — consciously uncovering joy, grief, gratitude and presence found in everyday life. Writing has always been an important personal practice. But until the last few years, Meg’s creative focus has been on the visual arts. In her recent work, writing is interwoven across disciplines, guiding inquiry and themes, both visu...