About


As an interdisciplinary artist, my work uses a wide range of materials and processes to thread together my interests in geology, the environment, and the complexities of our cultural constructions of nature. Using sensory understanding as a way to both think and feel, I engage with long acts of looking and performative actions that seek to approach the current moment with curiosity, care, and a sense of responsibility for the spaces and beings around me. I celebrate and mourn the complex entanglements of these relationships, using my art practice to pose questions about our concept of place, ownership, and collective destiny.

Jen Vaughn is based in Eugene, Oregon. She is a member of Ditch Projects and NTT Assistant Professor of Art and Design at Western Oregon University. Contact email: jen (at) jenvaughn (dot) com

Recent Press: Oregon Arts Commission // Pittsburgh City Paper Interview

RECENT EXHIBITIONS

2023 Rockclock*, Ditch Projects, Springfield, OR (on view Feb. 11 – March 5, 2023)
2022 time/space: The Land, Eugene Contemporary Art film screening at Broadway Metro Theater, curated by Julie Perini, Eugene, OR
2022 Cumulative Skies Deep Soils, SOIL, Seattle, WA
2021 Atlas, Carnation Contemporary, curated by Marcelo Fontana, Rachael Zur, Jason Triefenbach, Portland, OR
2021 A Collective Conversation: Observing a Year, online digital library curated by Sobia Ahmad and Monroe Isenberg
2021 Sonic Cartography, Bloomfield Garden Club, curated by Tina Dillman, Pittsburgh, PA
2021 SERPENTalk, Hamersly Gallery at Western Oregon University, Monmouth, OR 2021
2021 Answering Earth, online exhibition curated by Rural Midwest Artists Cooperative
2020 Cumulative Skies Deep Soils, two-person online exhibition with Erin Mallea, Oresman Gallery, MA
2020 Cumulative Skies Deep Soils, two-person show with Erin Mallea, Phosphor Project Space, Pittsburgh, PA
2019 Untitled (Open Space), curated by Leslie Moody Castro, ICOSA, Austin, TX
2019 Acts of Location: Rot or Renewal*, Disjecta Contemporary Art Center, Portland, OR
2019 Doubling Back*, Erik Washburn Gallery, Eugene, OR
2018 Ripe*, Washburn Gallery, Eugene, OR
2018 Distant Relatives, Littmann Gallery, Portland, OR
2018 Objectification, CICA Museum, Korea
2017 Home and Garden, LaVerne Krause Gallery, Eugene, OR
2017 Middle Child Syndrome, LaVerne Krause Gallery, Eugene, OR
2017 MR4, LVK Gallery, Eugene, OR
2017 Throo, LaVerne Krause Gallery, Eugene, OR
2017 Hard Feelings, curated by Alex Wurts, LaVerne Krause Gallery, Eugene, OR
2016 23 True Things, Wallace and Grace Hayden Gallery, Eugene, OR
2016 Recent Graduates, Blackfish Gallery, Portland, OR
2016 Gathering Lightness*, White Gallery, Portland, OR
2016 Shift, Autzen Gallery, Portland, OR
2015 Night Lights, in situ Portland and Regional Arts and Culture Council, Portland, OR
2015 Best of 2015 Portland State University Film and Video, 5th Street Cinema, Portland, OR 2015 503/971, Arlene and Harold Schnitzer Center for Art and Design, Portland, OR
2014 Shine A Light, Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR
2013 Off The Plain, Contemporary Photography at Place PDX, curated by TJ Morris, Portland, OR
2013 Then.Now.Here, Oregon Historical Society, Portland, OR

*solo exhibition

CONTRIBUTIONS/RESIDENCIES

2023 Upcoming: Center for Art Research Project Incubator Fellowship, Eugene, OR
2021-23 Media Editor, Center for Art Research, Eugene, OR
2020-23 Media Editor, Critical Conversations, The Ford Family Foundation, OR
2021 Artist Lecture, A Collective Conversation: Observing a Year
2019-2022 Artist Member, Ditch Projects, Springfield, OR
2018 Signal Fire Residency, Portland, OR
2016-19, Contributor, 5 Minutes Publication, Eugene, OR
2013 Panelist, The Constant Construct + Inevitability of Complex Perspective
2011 Juror, “The Way I See It: A Youth Perspective on Health”, Oregon Health Authority
2006 Artist in Residence, NPR, Reno, NV

EDUCATION

2019 Master of Fine Arts, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR
2016 Bachelor of Science, Art Practices, Portland State University, Portland, OR