Artist Statement

The name of my studio, Bosque Oscuro, means “dark forest” in Spanish. This is a reference to anthropologist Joseph Campbell’s concept of venturing off the beaten path, into the dark forest, to discover what is truly destined. It is my belief that developing a relationship with creativity requires a similar level of cultural abandon, and so gives us access to a wellspring of internal wisdom that is uniquely ours.

I create abstract paintings that are visually complex and suggestive of a narrative arc, inviting the eye to move throughout the composition as though embarking on a journey. I am deeply influenced by James Joyce’s concept of aesthetic arrest—the idea that a work of art can suspend the psyche in a moment of pure perception. By offering a stimulating visual field, my work seeks to extend the moment in which perception arises and before interpretation begins.

In this suspended moment, the mind can shift from a generative, time-bound mode into a more receptive and perceptive one. When this transition occurs, subtler dimensions of human experience—wonder, intuition, and creativity—become accessible. In my work, I aim to engage the analytic mind through layers of visual complexity, allowing quieter states to surface. 

Through careful attention to composition and color harmony, I shape a sense of movement and rhythm. Sometimes I choose to eliminate figurative elements to avoid the construction of literal narratives. In their place, I offer a field of pulsing forms that invite an intuitive self to emerge.

My process responds to the 2-dimensional surface of a painting as a mirror-portal, reflecting and projecting these subtler layers of being into the visual field.

I begin each painting by clearing the studio physically and energetically. Next, I unroll raw canvas on the floor, prostrate to the field of possibility. This is the soul-level of the work, with the blank canvas vital and powerful like a demiurge. From this space of clarity and silence, I wait for an impulse–a color or compositional element–to emerge. 

The next stage involves responding to that impulse by pouring and spreading acrylic wash across the surface, moving dynamically to remain instinctive. This is the heart of the process and determines the compositional thrust of each piece. The acrylic washes stabilize the raw canvas and reflect the impulsive, emotional aspects of the self. 

Once this layer dries, I solidify the forms in oils, using grisaille as a way to build depth, harmonize the visual elements, and establish detail. This requires a very different quality of consciousness; I work slowly and meditatively at this stage, sometimes painting only one or two elements in a day. As such, this final layer reflects the analytic mind. I sometimes add figurative elements, crystallizing the energy of the underlayers into distinguishable form.

By descending from subtle to dense in both approach, material, and subject, my intent is to create two-dimensional paintings as artifacts of a multi-dimensional consciousness, and that serve as roadmaps to finer layers of self.

Biography

Jasmin Iskandar de Caro was born outside of Los Angeles, California to immigrant parents whose roots span Mexico, Italy, and China by way of Indonesia. Raised in an America-washed household shaped by the pressures of assimilation, she grew up with little connection to a defined cultural lineage. This early sense of dislocation led her to question traditional notions of identity and belonging, and throughout her life she has sought to understand belonging not as a cultural inheritance, but as a deeper state of being.

After the death of her mother in 2014, Iskandar de Caro became intensely curious about the threshold between life and death and what lies beyond it. 

This question led her to study the yogic science in India, explore transcendent states of consciousness through meditation, and train in the healing practice of Usui Ryoho Reiki with Grand Master Beatrix Schilcher in Thailand. In 2019 she was attuned to the master level of Reiki—the same year she learned she was pregnant with her first child. 

These experiences shaped her understanding that the boundary between the physical and spiritual worlds may be less definite than it appears, and that certain states of awareness allow us to sense the continuity between them. Cultivating this awareness—of presence, continuity, and inter-connectedness—became another way of restoring her sense of home and belonging.

Jasmin Iskandar de Caro’s exploration of consciousness developed alongside a growing passion for teaching. While interning at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, she was inspired by the museum’s education department and its role in cultivating a love of art in young audiences. She later became an art specialist with the award-winning educational nonprofit Blue Palm, which brought integrated arts education to schools throughout the Los Angeles area.

Eventually moving into a full-time role as an art teacher, Iskandar de Caro discovered that working with children activated new depths of creativity within her own artistic practice. This experience led her to pursue formal training in Montessori pedagogy at the Montessori Training Centre of British Columbia. Today, she experiences her art practice, Montessori philosophy, energy medicine, contemplative study, and motherhood as parallel pathways of inquiry and inspiration.

Iskandar de Caro is currently pursuing her Maters in Fine Arts at the historic Cranbrook Academy of Art. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in art history from Vassar College and an Associate of Arts degree in graphic design from The Art Institutes of North Hollywood. She has also pursued continued studio art education at ArtCenter College of Design, University of Southern California, and University of California, Los Angeles.

Her work has been exhibited at the Ann Arbor Library, Crazy Wisdom Gallery, Tubac Center of the Arts, Las Lagunas Art Gallery, RAW Artists events in Orange County, the El Velorio arts festival, and the Ann Arbor Art Fair, among others. Discover more at www.BosqueOscuro.com and on Instagram @bosque.oscuro.