HOLDING SPACE (2026)

Jensen Kugler

A sunset isn’t beautiful because it lasts. It’s beautiful because it fades and returns, a little bit different, every evening. Those small, quiet moments are what this project is all about. This semester, I’ve tried to lean all the way in to process over product. Finding comfort in cycles and creating has helped me get more comfortable with the unknown. I’ve let my heart take the wheel. The lengthy, cyclical anthotype process has been a kind of meditation, grounding me in a return to the earth. Paired with the gestural, almost dance-like way I’ve been playing with paint, photography allows me to capture small bits of sunshine. This project is an exercise in both letting go and feeling deeply. It’s about holding space for my hurt, my joy, and most of all, my love. All semester, I’ve returned to a single phrase: to hold is to be held. A tree grows for itself before it becomes a home for anyone else, so I’m building that space, tooth and nail, in every brushstroke.