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Collection 1
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The Moon at Play

Acrylic on three 8" × 8" canvasses

Inspired by Epicurean thought, The Moon at Play explores the idea of “enough.” Layered textures and shifting forms reflect the accumulation of desires and experiences over time, while a subdued gold mountain suggests a final season of quiet satisfaction—where striving softens and play becomes possible again.

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Dream Sky

Acrylic on 48" × 36" canvas

Dream Sky explores the space between dreaming and waking. Some visions rise to clarity, others remain unfinished, lingering beneath awareness. Together, they form an interior landscape that quietly influences the direction of our lives.

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Unseen Guidance

Acrylic & string on 48" × 36" canvas

Unseen Guidance reflects the subtle forces that shape our direction. Intersecting lines and layered forms suggest paths influenced by a presence beyond what is immediately visible—often recognized only in retrospect.

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Rest on the Green Ledge

Acrylic on 60" × 48" canvas

Rest on the Green Ledge considers the layered complexity of life and the moments when withdrawal becomes necessary. The green ledge offers a place of pause—an elevated vantage from which to observe, recalibrate, and choose when to re-enter the current below.

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Therefore I'm Free

Acrylic on 60" × 48" canvas (frontlit/backlit)

Therefore I’m Free exists in two visual states on a single canvas. When lit from the front, the surface appears restrained and minimal; when lit from behind, a more turbulent image emerges. The work reflects the tension between order and chaos, concealment and revelation, and the transformation that occurs when light — literal or otherwise — shifts perspective.

This commissioned work was displayed from Good Friday (backlit) through Easter (frontlit).

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The Honey Badger

Acrylic & mixed media on 48" × 36" canvas

The Honey Badger draws on the animal’s reputation for resilience and fearlessness. Known for its intelligence and remarkable capacity to endure, the honey badger confronts forces larger than itself without hesitation. The work reflects a state of inner fortitude—where boundaries are held, persistence is instinctive, and transformation becomes possible.

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We Do Not Negotiate

Acrylic on two  48" × 24" canvasses

We Do Not Negotiate addresses the moment when emotional boundaries become non-negotiable. The work reflects a refusal to surrender energy, clarity, or agency to forces that undermine them. It stands as a marker of resolve—acknowledging what has been endured, and affirming the strength required to move forward without compromise.

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Love X 130

Acrylic on two  48" × 24" canvasses

Love X 130 gathers 130 translations of the word love (in noun form when available), arranged as a field—an expanse—punctuated by confetti-like marks. The shift from black to blue, threaded with bright yellow funnels, traces love’s capacity to lift and reorient us, even when we begin in shadow.

Because the mind naturally skews toward what’s threatening or lacking, this piece is an invitation to practice a different focus: to notice love’s presence in unexpected forms, colors, and scales. With attention, what once felt hidden begins to reveal itself more often.

Note: I attempted to arrange the translations chronologically (bottom to top) based on the emergence of each language, though the sequence is imperfect—and some translations may contain errors. That imperfection is part of the work: a reminder that love resists clean categorization, yet remains recognizable across time and culture.

*no AI was used in the research for this piece.

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Liminal Symphony

Acrylic & marker on 60" × 48" canvas

 

Liminal Symphony centers on the in-between—a transitional space where movement, uncertainty, and possibility coexist. Liminal seasons offer room to pause, absorb experience, and prepare for what follows.

 

Inspired by the Israelites’ forty-year journey through the desert, the work unfolds as a network of intersecting paths. It reflects the understanding that hardship often precedes breakthrough, and that renewal emerges through perseverance rather than certainty.

The composition remains intentionally open, inviting multiple readings. What appears unresolved at first gradually reveals its own rhythm—suggesting that within periods of transition, a larger harmony is quietly forming.

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Turning Corners

Book cover design

Turning Corners is the cover art for the novel by Mike Smith. The design incorporates a professionally photographed original abstract painting created on a 48" × 24" canvas.

The layered composition reflects the relationship between thought, choice, and consequence—using abstraction to suggest inner states, unseen constraints, and the moments where lives intersect and irrevocably change.

Book available on Amazon.

Artist Statement

My work is informed by the concept of neuroplasticity—the brain’s capacity to change through experience, repetition, and attention. What we absorb from our surroundings subtly shapes our internal landscapes, reinforcing patterns of tension, resilience, or possibility over time. Through abstraction, I explore the space where opposing forces coexist: challenge and hope, pressure and adaptability, fragility and strength. Vivid color and imperfect form act as counterweights to the rigidity and perfectionism that characterize much of contemporary life.These works are not prescriptive, but reflective—visual environments that invite pause, recalibration, and the quiet recognition that change remains possible.

    Contact

    KatiLightholderStudio@gmail.com

    Inquiries welcome.

    © 2026 Kati Lightholder

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