Callan Porter-Romero
Mt. Tamalpais After a Rainstorm, 2024
gouache on paper and collage
24 x 16 inches (unframed)
36.5 x 24.5 x .75 inches (framed)
$ 3,700.00
C-lective Curator’s Cut:
Part of Callan Porter Romero’s ongoing exploration of landscape and community, Mt. Tamalpais After a Rainstorm captures a quiet, dreamlike moment just after rainfall. Painted from an intimate point of view, the scene feels as though we are being welcomed in, with a hand emerging in the lower corner to gently open the view and lead us down the trail. Hands are central to Callan’s practice, drawn from members of her community as symbols of connection, labor, and care. Here, the outstretched hand of a person of color creates a bridge between humanity and landscape, inviting us into a moment of stillness, sensory awareness, and gratitude for the natural world in its soft, post rain calm.
Callan Porter-Romero
We Love Callan. She is an Oakland-based artist, draws on her multicultural roots and local surroundings to create vivid mixed-media paintings from recycled materials. Her signature use of layered cardboard hands explores themes of labor, identity, and quiet resilience, inviting empathy for the often-overlooked beauty in everyday life.
Photography by Lewis Watts.
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Bachelor of Science in Ecology and Evolutionary Behavior from UCLA
Currently pursuing her Masters of Fine Art at the London School of Art
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Solo and group exhibitions include de Young Open (2020, 2023), Berkeley Art Center Juried Members Exhibition (2022–2023), Art of the African Diaspora (Richmond Art Center, 2024), Grow at Palo Alto Art Center (2024), and more
Featured in the Running for Real podcast, emphasizing her dual identity as an artist and marathoner, and advocating for art accessibility
“I intentionally center people from my community to convey the weight of labor and invisible hardships in a changing environment through the perspective of hands.”
The vibrant culture of Oakland pulses through her work, reflected in the bold colors that echo the murals lining her neighborhood streets. In her studio, she paints from life, often inspired by what she sees just outside her window, while listening to an eclectic mix of music that fuels her creative rhythm. Her gift lies in capturing the quiet poetry of everyday moments: a hand in motion, a car window rolling down, the flick of a lighter. Her work reminds us to slow down and find meaning in the smallest gestures.