Artist statement

I make artwork using wood and fire. For me, fire is a force of transformation and revelation. I use it to burn the wood's surface, either building a carbonized layer or burning through to expose what lies beneath. Through this process, the material's essence and history are brought into focus and held.

BIO

Fire remains central to Kainz’s practice. Growing up on a farm in Wisconsin, fire was both comfort and necessity, as her family relied on burning salvaged wood for heat during long winters. Building fires in the woodstove and watching each piece of wood burn in its own way was an early education in the elemental language of wood and fire.

Before becoming an artist, Kainz was a neuroscientist studying the human visual system, a background that continues to shape her work. Her shift from neural networks to tree roots and wood grain is less a departure than a continuation of her fascination with organic structures and patterns across both microscopic and macroscopic scales.

She is represented by the Bromfield Gallery in Boston, MA, where her solo show Present Tense opened in March 2026.