Two years have passed since Jennifer Foran’s last solo exhibition at SideStreet Art Gallery. Her new show at the Multnomah Art Center both extends her artistic vision and departs meaningfully from her earlier work.

Where Foran once captured grandeur—sweeping vistas of the Columbia River Gorge or the mysticism of star-filled skies—her new pieces turn inward. They take us into the dense forest, where the senses sharpen. You can almost smell the moss, feel the rough bark, and see the tangled branches crowding the path ahead.

This shift in perspective calls for a different visual language. Earlier works relied on the verticality of trees to frame sweeping, orderly panoramas reminiscent of Art Nouveau. Here, that openness disappears. Instead, we are met with seemingly endless layers of branches, mottled with light and shadow. The forest doesn’t invite us to look beyond—it asks us to stay present in the thicket of detail.

Foran renders this complexity with remarkable sensitivity. She doesn’t flatten or simplify the density of the woods. Instead, she balances structure with looseness. Patches of sky break through the canopy in irregular grids—some edges darkened through wood burning, others softened with translucent stains. Light flickers across the surface like a delicate, lacy dance, as though caught mid-motion.

Though her imagery has shifted, Foran remains consistent in her choice of medium: raw wood, wood burning, and stain. In Grandeur, a central ring forms a bold focal point, a natural aperture where saplings rise from a fallen tree. The piece transforms a moment of decay into one of renewal.

The use of stain continues to shape the mood of her work. Its softness resists heavy saturation, allowing mossy greens to sink into the grain so that the wood itself becomes part of the image. Even knots carry new weight. In Windows, the darkened ovals punctuate the canopy like small suns, scattered at different hours of the day. Once imperfections, they now serve as celestial markers.

With this latest exhibition, Foran shifts her gaze from horizons to understory, from wide vistas to the intimacy of tangled growth. It’s a body of work that doesn’t just depict the forest—it pulls you into it. By the time you leave the gallery, you may feel as though you’re carrying a bit of that woodland quiet with you.

Jennifer Foran’s works are on view till September 13, 20255, at Multnomah Arts Center (7688 SW Capital Hwy, Portland OR, 97219). The gallery opens Monday to Thursday 9AM to 9:30PM, Friday and Saturday from 9AM to 5PM.