Trajectory Of The Soul
SOMA. PSYCHE. PNEUMA.
White light separated by a dispersive medium (the prism) reveals its hidden truths. A continuous range of spectral colors, each with varying wavelengths and intensity.
The visible spectrum.
The soul, pure, divine, fragile and fierce, projected through the prism of life in soma begins to display the color spectrum of experiences which make up its story. Trials, triumphs, accession, attrition. Purity, divinity and strength remain the steadfast virtues of the human soul through the many journeys of a lifetime.
Trajectory of the Soul is dedicated to the thriving CAP community. Commemorating the thousands of lives forever changed. Stories of victory marshaled from the transformation from the story of one, to the encompassing of community. From fear to understanding. From the chaos of uncertainty, to leadership and the drive to serve others. For each member of the community serving as the prism through which his fellow man may see the visible spectrum of his qualities.
J.M. Porter
In collaboration with:
PSU Department of Architecture
Alan Finch, Ashley Schahfer, Ben Mounce, Bryan Thompson, Christopher Rockhill, Dustin Buzzard, Eddie Peraza-Garzon, Francis Schmitt,
Jason Leighton, Jeff Schnabel, Jesse Pollard, Joel Dickson, Justin Wells, Katie Barmore McCollum, Klara Jolesz, Lu Lu, Meng Wang, Michael Coon, Naomi Morgan, Nathan Clifford, Nicholas May, Nina Comisky, Patrick Noal, Sean Newberry, Tim Ruppel
With generous donations from:
InFocus, Parr Lumber, Mr. Plywood, SunTek, Utrecht Art Supplies, Pearl
Ace Hardware
Gwenn Seemel: Crime Against Nature
November, December, and January at Place, Portland, Oregon.
Crime Against Nature is both a book and a series.
The exhibition, which is a three dimensional installation of the book, opens 17 November at Place!
And the book is available here!
Reception: 17 November, 5 - 9 PM
Second reception: 15 December, 5 - 9 PM
Open: 18 November - 12 January
Hours: Thursday - Sunday, 12 - 6 PM
- --CLOSED on Thanksgiving Day-- -
Place
3rd floor of Pioneer Place
SW 5th and
Yamhill, Portland, Oregon
A word from Seemel on the project:
"I always assumed that I would have children one day. It wasn’t something that I felt strongly about one way or the other: I just thought it was something I would do.
Then, a few years ago, I was diagnosed with endometriosis, a disease which causes infertility in many women. Suddenly, the future I hadn’t cared much about seemed important. The maybe-never of it put me in a should-I-even-try frame of mind.
After being told again and again that the urge to reproduce is primordial, I turned to nature to look for the origins of our baby-making assumptions. To begin with, all I found was the animal version of “first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby in the baby carriage.” But I wasn’t convinced.
As I researched, I broadened my question. I could see that this wasn’t just about baby-making. It was about all the things that we think women and men have to be in order to be natural. For all my investigating and exploring, I still couldn’t control whether or not
I can have children, but I could decide to have a children’s book instead. So I did. Crime Against Nature is this book and it’s also a series that I am exhibiting as a version of the text that viewers can wander through as they read. Whatever the format, book or show, Crime Against Nature is meant for the kid in all of us: the person who hasn’t yet felt the pressure to conform, the one who still sees the infinite possibilities of being."
The book includes all the images and text featured above plus a foreword by the evolutionary biologist Joan Roughgarden.
The print version is available for $32. This price includes shipping
within the United States, but, if you would like the book to be sent elsewhere,
please email me for details.
- Gwenn Seemel
Crime Against Nature is both a book and a series.
The exhibition, which is a three dimensional installation of the book, opens 17 November at Place!
And the book is available here!
Reception: 17 November, 5 - 9 PM
Second reception: 15 December, 5 - 9 PM
Open: 18 November - 12 January
Hours: Thursday - Sunday, 12 - 6 PM
- --CLOSED on Thanksgiving Day-- -
Place
3rd floor of Pioneer Place
SW 5th and
Yamhill, Portland, Oregon
A word from Seemel on the project:
"I always assumed that I would have children one day. It wasn’t something that I felt strongly about one way or the other: I just thought it was something I would do.
Then, a few years ago, I was diagnosed with endometriosis, a disease which causes infertility in many women. Suddenly, the future I hadn’t cared much about seemed important. The maybe-never of it put me in a should-I-even-try frame of mind.
After being told again and again that the urge to reproduce is primordial, I turned to nature to look for the origins of our baby-making assumptions. To begin with, all I found was the animal version of “first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby in the baby carriage.” But I wasn’t convinced.
As I researched, I broadened my question. I could see that this wasn’t just about baby-making. It was about all the things that we think women and men have to be in order to be natural. For all my investigating and exploring, I still couldn’t control whether or not
I can have children, but I could decide to have a children’s book instead. So I did. Crime Against Nature is this book and it’s also a series that I am exhibiting as a version of the text that viewers can wander through as they read. Whatever the format, book or show, Crime Against Nature is meant for the kid in all of us: the person who hasn’t yet felt the pressure to conform, the one who still sees the infinite possibilities of being."
The book includes all the images and text featured above plus a foreword by the evolutionary biologist Joan Roughgarden.
The print version is available for $32. This price includes shipping
within the United States, but, if you would like the book to be sent elsewhere,
please email me for details.
- Gwenn Seemel
23rd Annual CAP Art Auction
Every year since 1990, CAP has hosted an art auction and party to raise money to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS and provide service to those infected or affected by HIV in the Northwest. Portland’s art community first organized this iconic event and they remain the backbone of the Art Auction today. The event has grown over the past two decades, now encompassing 250 works
of art and over 1,000 guests.
The evening includes the patron dinner with dinner, live and silent auctions of over 250 juried artworks, and the after party (the grand event) that draws out the very best of the Northwest: the most captivating art, most delicious food and specialty libation and the most fascinating people. Last year, over 1,200 guests – from artists to socialites put on their partying best to help stem the tide of HIV/AIDS.
Alternatively, you may opt to attend the Grand Event where the silent auction will showcase more than 225 contemporary artworks, unique entertainment, music, hosted wine and beer, and hors d’oeuvres and desserts. The patron dinner will take place on the floor of the Coliseum bowl and the grand event will occur on the Concourse.
All funds raised support the vital work of Cascade AIDS Project. Our mission is to prevent HIV infections, support and empower
people affected and infected by HIV/AIDS and eliminate HIV/AIDS www.capartauction.org
Chroma’s CAP gallery this year will feature works by
Rio Wrenn,“Butterfly Clamp”, Rusted Patina.
Garrett Price,“Broadway Bridge Redesign”, Steel Etching.
Rebecca Shapiro,“Leaving”, Encaustic.
Circle TwentyThree,“How far is too far”, Photograph
Kevin Darras “A Natural Habitat”, Graphic Image Transfer
This year, Chroma is pleased to feature a diverse and powerful installation
program.
Stephen Miller’s Video Installation work http://www.studiom13.com/
“While researching ideas for this video installation, I learned that someone on this planet is infected with HIV every ten seconds. It disturbed me deeply, and yet that information, that statistic, was hard to take in, experience, feel. Ten seconds. A painfully brief pause between each contraction, the span of a deep breath. The rhythm of these videos attempts to breath life into this statistical global
reality. In addition to the masses, there is one. Every ten seconds represents one human being. We see one man’s walk down an unknown trajectory. We look at him closely so we do not forget that each bit of “data” is someone’s heartbeat and dreams jeopardized.”
– Stephen Miller
Rebecca Shapiro’s Installation 'The Spiral" http://rebeccashapiroart.com/
“The spiral is a universal form, winding in a continuous and gradually widening or tightening curve around a fixed center point. I see it as a
meditation, a metaphor and a map for my life.
Meditation.
Through recent exploration of Indian Tantric art, I have been painting and drawing spirals and center points. This art is
created as a religious, contemplative practice. Most of the images are very simple forms, using basic colors, revealing the energies and essences of life and spirit. The images are used to recall and re-enter a state of meditation throughout the day. My investigation into this art form became the foundation for this installation. Metaphor.
I play with the fixed center point of the spiral as a metaphor for my life while events, people and things whorl about me. The center point can also be a place of stillness, a new beginning or a final conclusion. The spiral lines that widen or tighten around this point become a path I travel: contraction or expansion, introspection or emptiness, growth or hibernation.
Map.
As I prepared this installation, a daily practice emerged: drawing this form on a scroll, a spiral of paper. The spiral became a map of my life. Just as Tantric art is used to recall a state of meditation, I can look at a spiral and remember who or what influenced the nature and quality of the spiral and where I found myself within the form.
The spiral contains the marks of our human experience. Traversing this archetypal symbol, resting within or springing from the center point brings me to myself and to my studio life." – Rebecca Shapiro
Gabe Flores Installation Works http://www.hindsitespecific.com/
“My work examines my experience of being a gay male in the arts. The internal dialogue between in/out and pride/shame is a personal
struggle and carries over to what and how I decide to present. Often I work with abstract concepts of determinism, fictionalized histories, and the impossibility of identity based ideologies. I wonder if this is to keep my core safe hidden by layers of philosophical subtext. It also examines the intimate talk amongst gay males and how that reads sculpturally. The title of of the piece is y Little Boy Pussy: Like a Stump.” “: Like a Stump” refers to the deadness of feeling at times, but also when you add the : (colon) it suggests use, experience and exploring boundaries.”
– Gabe Flores
