Andy + Natsuko, In Search of This World

This post is long overdue. But since these guys are opening a show this Thursday, let’s pretend my tardiness was planned. I’d love to introduce two talented designers calling our grey city home. Andrew and Natsuko met while studying graphic design at Portland State University and have a show for you. It’s awesome, they let me squeak in for a sneak peek. Here are... Read More

Sculpture over Portland waters

A gallery that has no home. A working studio space that has no address (well, sort of). Shake hands with The Labrador, 12128, a floating workshop/refuge/venue/studio/gallery run by four recent art grads from Lewis & Clark. The Labrador lives on the Willamette River, on Sauvie Island, and used to ship bodes back home after WWII, as well as fish frozen northern waters for crab.... Read More

Balinese performance art

Shadow Puppetry “Wayang” Shadow puppet theater is a thousand-year-old artform that entertains millions to this day in Indonesia & Bali. Cut from buffalo hides, puppets are placed between a tightly hung screen and an electric or fire lamp and usually tell epic Hindu tales like The Ramayana or The Mahabharata. Entire villages gather and watch the all-night tales which... Read More

“When you have more clowns…” says Frank Chimero

Frank Chimero at Land Gallery If you are in Portland and you know what is good for you, march yourself right on down to Land Gallery and experience Frank Chimero’s show “If Someone Asks This is Where I’ll Be.” It is impossible to imagine this much work crammed into such a tight space. It makes Land feel 10x larger than it actually is, and unless you seriously... Read More

Descendant flowers + Whoopi

This is what full time work yields after 3 years of determination. An incredible story that is nothing short of remarkable. Director Heiko van der Scherm had the wherewithall to hire Whoopi Goldberg for this short film that chronicles a scene in the life of two flowers in a sunlit wood. It is heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time. I’d love to think that in the end... Read More

Bradley Castaneda

Bradley Castaneda is from our sister city to the north, Seattle. His work first caught my eye when I saw a series of photographs shot while flying over the Yukon Territory. Interesting, I’m curious where he was headed. Does one really fly over the Yukon from Seattle to Alaska? Perhaps he was heading to Tuktoyaktuk! The rest of his work is delicate & thoughtful. I appreciate... Read More

Abuela Grillo

Abuela Grillo translates to Grandmother Cricket. She has antennae, duh. She walks around Bolivia singing her incredible little rain song bringing life and nourishment to her people. This time, however, she is taken advantage of by boxy business men and used for profit. She is nearly destroyed, her very tears being bottled into plastic containers and sold at a price the people... Read More

Collaboration mega fluff

The press release reads “can 18 disparate Portland artists, writers, designers, art directors, fashion designers and illustrators get together and work as a singular unit to make art? Probably not.” Hordes of us have been talking and coffee-tabling collaboration as the new salvation, the new -ism, the way to move forward. Generally, I hear gushes and swoons about... Read More

Hello, Summertime…?

photo via Design Dust Summertime in Portland is a fickle beast. Even now into July I wore a hoodie and beanie as I sat outside and sipped bourbon on my front porch last night. However when Summer finally comes to the Northwest it is INCREDIBLE. The weather is perfect and that days are LONG. Because of the long rainy months Portlanders tend to take full advantage of the beautiful... Read More

Harrier and Jaguar

This exhibition in the Tate Britain by Fiona Banner is really stunning. Both jets that are used in the piece were used in battle in the Gulf and Bosnia. They remind me of taxidermied animals. Both are wild and dangerous and could kill you in a million ways but have been reduced to nothing more than decoration. I wish I could get to London to go see them! Besides all the emotions... Read More