Working diligently to get ready for my September show at Gallery 114.
My work was photographed by Dan Kvitka in October and I thank the Ford Family Foundation for the funds to pay for that documentation and that done by Stephen Funk, last spring at the 3/24 Mt. Hood Community College Exhibit.
Here are a few of the new images, supported by this grant.
First- are 4 of the larger "anchor" paintings for my exhibit. These are all 36"x36".
Then after making all these I made a series of smaller paintings that refer to other aspects of each larger painting.
Now to play with them in relation to each other via photoshop, which is how I will plan the layout for my exhibit. Just experimenting with arrangements - I can scale everything to the dimensions of the display space - so can get a pretty accurate feel for the set up.
I continue to take my inspiration from Balch Creek in Forest Park, Portland, OR.
As I find my imagery in the almost infinite views of this creek, I strive to capture the tension of the beauty and strength of nature with the intrusion of humans.
We come to land, we measure and scheme on how to exploit.
Are we bad?
Let's say we are individuals, family-groups who are only trying to survive, but somehow balance gets lost time and time again.
Anyway, I am pushing on to have this creek renamed to kulla kulla creek, "bird" in the chinuk-wawa language, the first language of the Oregon people, used by all the tribes in the region and beyond.
Dan Balch was a colonist who received his land for FREE in 1850 via a Donation Land Claim. He and his family settled, but before long, in 1858, Dan murdered his son-in-law in a drunken rage, not approving of his daughter's elopement.
Dan was the first white man to be tried, convicted and hanged for murder in the state of Oregon.
Continuing to refer to a creek with murder's moniker, is an insult to the original people whose land was stolen and to all people striving to live in a civilized society, past and future. It's not funny, nor quirky...it is unjust and was an act of violence that ended an innocent persons' life.
Here is a video of a portion of my kulla-kulla creek series.
There is an abrupt spot where the creek is unceremoniously culverted into the storm sewer to be fed into the Willamette River, via a pipe, a mile down the way.
The painting is of the culvert, flanked by the diagrams of the newly engineered trash rack.
The flowing silk ribbons represent the wild beauty of the creek, and contrast with the black burlap representing landscape cloth and the lights-out dark of entering the culvert.
Movement vs static.
The bird sculptures remind us the creek is to be renamed kulla kulla, but also point out how humans appreciate nature but simplify it, losing so much of the intricate beauty.
The complexity of nature is actually beyond us, but we honor these motifs as reminders of what is out there.
Detail of the tags reminding us that moving folks off the land is something that our society still does today - sadly.
Detail of Map - section with the Gunter chain - used to measure/map the plots of land across Oregon, Washington and Idaho...and across the whole country.
Lisa Conway and David Cohen are exhibiting some amazing pieces. The space is large and beautifully lit, so there is plenty to take in and enough room for the large work.
Here are some images:
a new arrangement idea and a few new paintings to capture other ways of experiencing the creek
detail
Balch Creek Map is continually getting refined as my understanding expands.
Thanks Gallery 114 for the opportunity to put up a comprehensive exhibit featuring the Balch Creek as it flows along Lower Macleay Trail. And for the chance to talk about the renaming effort about the creek.
Simple version: Dan Balch was a white colonizer who was given his land for free during the period of 1850-1855, when the US Government was trying to get the land settled by White Men as they actively displaced the Native People. The stealing and redistribution of the land was through the system of the Donation Land Act.
Anyway here is a link to a more fleshed out explanation:
But as the exhibit images may be removed soon, I wanted folks to see the paintings.
Can you really enforce a boundary on flowing water? acrylic on panel, 36" x48"
Flowing dipping and spraying over the basalt, acrylic on panel, 30" x 30"
Next to the rush, quiet pools may form, acrylic on panel, 36"x36"
Catching the rush, turning the corner, slowing the pace, acrylic on panel, 36" x36"
Towering trees tumble, acrylic on panel, 30"x30"
The creek narrows and picks up speed, acrylic on panel, 24"x24"
The engineered disappearance of a living creek, acrylic on panel, 30"x30"
Map of Balch Creek and surrounding area, mixed media, acrylic on panel, nails, thread, key tags, 10'x6'
