Portland Art Museum & PAM CUT
Emerging Zodiac is an exceptional example of Parkinson’s work and her dedicated interest in the human body in relation to the greater cosmos. The model of the dancing figure is artist Eiko Otake, a movement-based, interdisciplinary artist who has performed several times @picapdx. Inspired by Otake’s movements, Parkinson has documented these performances. Emerging Zodiac is… Read more
Seneca artist Marie Watt created Companion Species: Ferocious Mother and Canis Familiaris with the help of over 200 people who participated in two sewing circles. These collective efforts generated a powerful piece filled with energy and hope. The holiday season can be a time of collective joy and togetherness; it can also be a painful… Read more
Wally Dion created Green Star Quilt out of computer circuit boards, brass wire, and copper tubing, rather than the fabric squares of a traditional quilt. As Native American Art Curator Kathleen Ash-Milby writes, “Dion has cleverly transformed ordinary materials that most people rely upon every day, but do not notice, into a bold work of… Read more
It has been more than one year since Write Around Portland and the Portland Art Museum began collaborating on weekly, art-inspired writing prompts to sustain our souls and our sense of connection during the pandemic. Write Around Portland staff and writing workshop facilitators have created over 60 writing prompts inspired by works in the Portland… Read more
Earth Day is this Thursday, April 22, and this piece by Lynn Aldrich feels like a fitting companion as we explore our relationship to this planet we call home. To create this sculpture, Aldrich bent, cut, and linked everyday cleaning tools, shaping them into representations of vibrant sea creatures. Biophilia is both fun and serious,… Read more
Diane Jacobs is drawn to wool, hair, and paper pulp materials in much of her work. For Jacobs, hair is a material that incorporates our humanity woven into the material’s very history and genetics. It is also a material filled with social taboos and is inherently visceral, coming from one’s own body. In Global Inversion,… Read more
Seal Vision: Shared Spirit celebrates the inter-related lives of seals with the people and animals of the far north. Echoing the format of Yu’pik dance masks, this striking mixed media sculpture is the result of a collaboration between Terresa White (Yup’ik), Mark Tetpon (Inupiaq) and Don Johnston (Qagan Tayagungin Aleut). There are so many stories… Read more
“When you visit the second-floor of the modern and contemporary galleries, you’ll find a group of works by women artists: Judy Chicago’s Pasadena Lifesaver Blue, Judy Pfaff’s Untitled, Dorothea Rockburne’s Saqqarah, and Lynda Benglis’s Omega. One of the many sparkle knots Benglis created in the early 1970s, Omega is often described as a feminist send-up… Read more
“With the vivid, sculptural work, ‘Green Star Quilt,’ artist Wally Dion has cleverly transformed ordinary materials that most people rely upon every day, but do not notice, into a bold work of art. The star pattern is evocative of the quilting tradition practiced among many Native communities in the United States and Canada, but this… Read more
“Monuments are on my mind. As we are seeing statues of racist historical figures being toppled in cities across the country, my thoughts jump over to the American flag. A singular symbol of the idea and the ideals that the United States represents, it also speaks of our history of oppression and the constant fight… Read more