(Above: Detail of photograph taken at Lan Su Garden)
Edited by Randi Bjornstad
Carol Isaak’s show, Seasons: Lan Su Garden, is up at Dot Dotson’s Gallery through Nov. 3, 2025, and the title refers not just to the photography but also to a book Isaak has written with the same name.
In fact, the Emerald Art Center at 500 Main St. in Springfield will host an artist’s talk and book-signing — complete with refreshments — at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 19.
Here’s what Isaak says about herself and her work in the artist’s statement that accompanies the show:
As all photographers, first I observe the light, for without it, there is no image. But then, my interest is piqued by recording layers of reflections, intersections, line drawings, optical illusions found in Portal to Nowhere, and objects that appear to be real, but are not. Those are found among the tarpaulins in the Structure and Light portfolio.
I am an accumulator, a travel photographer, and a lover of things Asian. Rarely do I set out to focus on a project. Rather, I find that there are evolving relationships which I have photographed. India, Dreaming in Detail.
Many of my portfolios reflect my interest in various aspects of China, observing the landscape, the cities, and the people, in China Synthesis, and Inner Mongolia. It is especially interesting how China is reproduced in the US. We find China in fantasy Chinatowns, in China in America. Also, China is reproduced accurately in Portland, Oregon’s Lan Su Garden, which is based on a scholar’s residence in Suzhou.
There is rarely a time that I am without one of my cameras in my pocket. As my situation changes, my images change. I am looking forward to new adventures, new visions.
About Lan Su Garden
Lan Su Garden in downtown Portland, Ore., with its archways, plants, bridges, provided an important refuge for artist/photographer Carol Isaak during the pandemic. Lan Su Garden is what is called a Chinese scholar garden, dating to the Ming Dynasty (1368 to 1644) when these gardens became an art form that offered a primary leisure pursuit of the scholarly class, with the goal of creating a spiritual retreat away from worldly concerns.
Isaak photographed the garden in all four seasons for this collection in an attempt to express the serenity she experienced while in the garden. Chinese scholar gardens are meant to express calm and provoke contemplation, as reflected by the layers and shadows in Isaak’s work. The garden, established 25 years ago, has been an ongoing collaboration between Portland and its Chinese sister city, Suzhou.
Suzhou, in China’s southern Jiangsu Province, was founded in 514 B.C. and soon became the center of the Chinese silk trade as well as famous imperial gardens. Its population now numbers more than 8.5 million people. It was dubbed by famed Chinese merchant/explorer/writer Marco Polo (approximately 1254-1324) as “the Venice of the East.”
In Carol Isaak’s words: “I call myself an opportunistic photographer—an adventurer at heart. When COVID curtailed travel, the freedom to photograph regularly in Portland’s Lan Su Chinese Garden became a vital outlet, easing my longing to explore. Lan Su reconnected me with my deep love for Chinese culture. Entering the garden beneath the poetic inscription, The Garden of Awakening Orchids, I was transported—viscerally and visually—to Suzhou, China. Suzhou, Portland’s sister city and the inspiration for Lan Su, is a place I had the privilege of visiting twice. It’s an astonishing city, rich with artistry and tradition.
“As I began to explore the Garden’s mysteries, the seasons shifted—and so did my vision. Over three years, I collaborated with the space, allowing my eye to follow its changing light and subtle rhythms. In time, it became my home away from home. Floating between the magical and the material, I photographed without a plan—simply responding to the Garden. I’m delighted to bring my work back to the source of the Lan Su Garden.”
How to see Carol Isaak’s Seasons: Lan Su Garden
Gallery show through Nov. 3: From 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at Dot Dotson’s Photo Finishing, 1668 Willamette St., Eugene
Artist’s talk and book signing: At 3 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 19 at Emerald Art Center, 500 Main St., Springfield
