Regan Golden's Year in the Rose Garden

Flowers recall memories: moments of celebration, relaxation, mourning. They take on a symbolism, both on a cultural and individual level.

In a new show at Kolman & Reeb Gallery, artist Regan Golden dives deep into the folds of a rose through a variety of media. From detailed studies to layered, deconstructed and reconstructed collages, Golden explores both roses’ inherent qualities and the meanings we’ve layered on top. The media include drawing, watercolor, collage, photography, monoprinting, and lithography.

The show, “Rose Reverie,” is supported by a Kolman & Reeb Project Space grant. Its name evokes a daydream, a lazy day spent laying in a garden. Golden’s focus over the past year has been in the Lyndale Park Rose Garden, where the grant allowed her to take up residence and base her exploration. Throughout the past year, she photographed over 250 unique species of rose. 

Golden immersed herself in roses, and experimented with their representation as objects and symbols. The culmination of this supported experimentation is on view at Kolman & Reeb through September 20, with a closing artist reception that evening.

 

Last Rose of Summer 3, Regan Golden

 

I. Rose Memory

The conversation about “Rose Reverie” can’t help but turn to memory. Flowers hold a special place, not only for Golden, but for gallery owners Anita Sue Kolman and Jodi Reeb. 

Kolman recalls spraying her mother’s rose bushes as a child to ward off the flower-eating Japanese beetle. For her wedding, her mother handled the floral arrangements: a surprise bouquet of yellow roses and gardenias, another childhood favorite.

The Project Space program, celebrating its fifth anniversary this year, has been a way for them to bring new work into their Northrup King gallery space. It happened that Golden’s exploration fit thematically with the work of the artists that they represent. 

“The gallery artists who we represent on an ongoing basis have been with us for years,” says Kolman. “They are all connected to nature in their work. That was an accident. That was not planned. It says something about us—that for us, nature’s important.”

“It’s the natural way that the gallery has gone,” adds Reeb. “Ecology has become more and more prevalent, and using art as a platform to raise awareness.”

For the strength of their memories and associations, flowers are ephemeral. They’re as fragile as our larger ecosystem. When it came to choosing how to represent roses, Golden turned to photographs, representing a petal through a piece of paper. 

“Printed photographs are as fragile and ephemeral as roses. A lot of the photos are cut with an X-Acto knife to advance the falling apart of each image,” says Golden. “They appear to preserve and protect something, but it’s just a piece of paper. It could fall apart tomorrow. I love that fragility and strength. They’re cut apart, but holding together.”

Like Kolman, Golden has early memories of roses. For her, these first memories were photographs in a January flower catalog. She and her mother would pretend they were real roses, wintering in Minnesota and looking forward to spring. “My love of roses grew from my love of photos of roses,” she says.

 

Rose Construct 5, Regan Golden

 

II. “Rose Reverie”

The show explores a variety of media, with varying connections to its subject matter. In addition to photography—often cut, collaged, and gently peeling apart—Golden used drawing, watercolor, monoprinting, and lithography to explore the plants in the Lyndale Park Rose Garden.

Collaging her own photographs of roses mimics what she used to do with the flower catalogs: Cut out the beloved images. As an adult, she finds deeper meaning in the process of cutting and reassembling.

“At a time when images circulate so often through our daily lives and screens, printing and cutting them apart shows how they’re constructed,” says Golden. “For me, collage is about revealing that reality as we know it is a construct.”

Many of the pieces in the show are layered, mimicking petals on a rose. There are scans of collages, cut into and peeling. In these pieces, the dark black background creates a striking contrast with the vibrancy of the photographs. The images are varied. Some are crisp; some are out of focus. Some are cut and appear to be layered on top of a plant placed directly on the scanner, burying it. 

There’s also layering of different media. Golden experimented with monoprinting through the grant. These pieces convey the joy, light, and atmosphere of the flowers she was observing. 

There are also pieces in the show that read more as formal studies. From line drawings to a detailed lithograph and two watercolors—one from June, one from July. Viewers can trace a line through the show, from straightforward reproduction to playful reimagining and an overgrowth of layered construction and reconstruction.

Installation view of Rose Reverie

III. Rose Jubilee

The ability to take time, both on detailed studies and playful experimentation, was an outcome of her Project Space grant. “It was a gift to be able to spend that much time with the subject matter,” says Golden. “I was able to push it much further than I had done in the past.”

This year is an important milestone for the Project Space program: Its fifth anniversary. Over the past five years, Kolman Reeb has been able to support Minnesota artists with yearlong funding and the culmination of a solo show in the gallery. The idea for the grant grew directly out of the gallery’s mission to support and showcase local artists. 

“It was time to do something new,” says Kolman, who started the grant in the gallery’s 10th year of operation. “We thought, ‘What can we do to further support Minnesota artists? How can we find something that fits into our mission?’”

“Anita is a true patron,” adds Reeb, an artist, curator, and co-owner of the gallery. herself. “The program is to develop new work. We want to support an artist with an idea that they’ve maybe not had the time or support to develop.”

Over the years, this dedicated exploration of a specific project has helped influence artists’ next steps. For Kolman, that’s one of the most fulfilling parts of the Project Space program. “It’s great to think about all of the artwork that might come out of this show,” she says.

The gallery itself will celebrate 15 years this fall. Looking around at the space, Kolman recalls moving in with three weeks to set up before Art Attack in 2010. Like Golden’s work, the walls hold many strong memories for both Kolman and Reeb. As the Lyndale Park Rose Garden’s bushes prepare to overwinter, this fall will hold some of that warmth and be a season of celebration at the gallery. ◼︎ 

 

Rose Reverie will culminate with a closing artist reception on September 20, 2025, from 6 to 8 p.m. during Northrup King Nights. You can also view the exhibition during gallery hours, noon to 4 p.m. on Saturdays or by appointment. Golden will also be present on Saturday, September 13, during open hours. You can see more of Golden's work on her Instagram @regangoldenmc and her website.

Applications for the next round of Project Space grants are open through September 15. Find more information on the grant here.