Bio

Born and raised in small-town Iowa, Caitlyn Rose Doran went on to graduate from the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design with honors in 2016. Shortly after, her life was turned on its head when she moved to Japan for work and again when she later enrolled at the Kanazawa College of Art in 2019. Seeing the value in the ordinary, Doran’s work is in direct reference to her day-to-day. Meaning contrasting cultural elements, familiar faces and domesticities are all painted together and in bright, vibrant oils and acrylics. To date, Doran has had dozens of successful exhibitions, most notably her recent solo show ‘Facing the Little Things’ in Kanazawa. She is currently based in Chicago and is working towards her MFA from Columbia College.

Statement

They say the secret to life is finding joy in the little things. I agree, but some fancy makes the little things more memorable. That’s why my paintings put the ordinary on full display and then turn the volume up a notch. I work with people and props from my everyday life, but I also add surreal twists and turns, making skewed, cinematic versions of a personal reality. Bandaged siblings, hungry roommates, electric tea kettles, scattered grains of rice, or tiny animal figurines are the sort of domestic trappings that pervade every painting I make. Together they tell seemingly ordinary stories of subtle fantasy and amiable cross-cultural exchange directly inspired by my daily life.

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