Created in the solitude of the early morning, The Verdant Hours is a collection of contemporary mixed media works that explore the intersection of nature and urban expression. Each piece is a fusion of raw graffiti energy and the delicate beauty of botanical forms — where the resilience of nature meets the grit of the streets.

Built in layers, these works combine acrylic, pigment inks, oil sticks, pastel and hand-cut Japanese KOZO paper to create richly textured surfaces. Using an alternative printmaking process, pigment inks and the artist’s own photography are burnished into the surface by hand, embedding imagery into the composition like a memory pressed into time. This tactile process allows each layer to reveal something new — subtle remnants of previous marks, traces of botanical forms, and echoes of urban landscapes.

Through abstract interpretations and floral shapes, The Verdant Hours reimagines the essence of botanicals, capturing their forms in unexpected ways. The rhythmic layering of materials reflects the harmony and tension between the organic and the industrial, the ephemeral and the enduring.

This exhibition celebrates the coexistence of two seemingly opposing forces — urban culture and the natural world — revealing the beauty that emerges from their convergence. The Verdant Hours invites viewers to pause, look closer, and to find wonder in the places where nature persists, even in the most unlikely environments.

Artist Statement:

My work is a fusion of photography, printmaking, and painting — an ongoing exploration of the unexpected relationship between street art and nature. At first glance, graffiti and botanicals seem like opposites, but both are acts of mark-making, subject to time, decay, and renewal. 

Graffiti layers over itself as new artists leave their mark, much like a garden where plants grow, fade, and regenerate. Both evolve, transforming walls and landscapes into living, ever-changing compositions.

I am inspired by graffiti’s raw energy and the ephemeral beauty of botanicals. A single gesture — a faded tag, a bold stroke of color, a vine creeping over a wall — feeds my creative process. 

Using an alternative printmaking technique, I merge elements from photographs of graffiti, botanicals, and insects, burnishing pigment inks onto layered surfaces of paint and mixed media. Through this tactile process, the vibrancy of street art intertwines with the organic flow of nature, creating immersive, dreamlike compositions.

I see my work ever changing — where the urban and the organic coexist, fade, and begin anew.

Artist Bio:

Katrina Revenaugh is a photographer, printmaker and painter. She combines those disciplines to transform the grit and chaos of street art into her own visual language.

Over the years, she has traveled to 24 cities across 11 countries to photograph graffiti in the world’s most dynamic street art environments. She sees graffiti as the purest form of “mark making” — a raw, expressive connection between artist and city, a visual language that tells the story of a place and people.

Drawing from her travels, she fuses the energy of urban art with the delicate beauty of nature. Using an alternative printmaking process, she layers her own photographs of graffiti, botanicals, and insects, burnishing pigment inks onto painted surfaces.

Gestures intertwine with flowers, vines, and textures, combining the organic and the industrial in unexpected ways. Each piece is a layered narrative, a fusion of marks and memories that blur the lines between past and present, nature and city.

Originally from the Midwest, Katrina spent her teen years in rural Southern Illinois, where her love for nature and flowers grew. Later, living near Venice Beach and attending Otis College of Art & Design, she developed a fascination with graffiti and street art. This dual passion fuels her ever-growing archive of images, gathered from alleys and gardens alike, forming the foundation of her work. She currently resides in Kansas City. 

Artist Talk with Katrina Revenaugh: The Verdant Hours Exhibition

Saturday, April 12, 2pm