BRENDA MALLORY
November 6 – December 21, 2019
First Thursday art walk December 5, 6–8 pm (artist present)
Artist talk Wednesday, December 18 at 6:00pm (click here for more info and to RSVP)
THE WORK
For her first solo exhibition at Upfor, Brenda Mallory presents new 2D and sculptural work in an array of materials both found and created, from linen firehose to kiln-formed glass. Recognized for her use and transformation of unusual and often gleaned materials, Mallory takes simple components and combines them to create complex patterns and serial forms. For this recent body of work, Mallory sometimes used existing work to create subsequent pieces in different materials; for example, an artwork made of rubber drive belts she used as a mold to create a similar object in cast paper, and yet others in cast glass. Through this layered, iterative process of unmaking and remaking, she engages with ideas of repetition, interference, and disruption.
“Her works often deal with the effects of dominion: broken and disrupted systems, the legacies of Colonialism and Manifest Destiny; and current, disastrous policies concerning the environment and immigration,” writes Prudence Roberts in a recent essay. In Mallory’s works, she continues, “one can sense the adaptability and beauty of the natural world and of its inhabitants, even under conditions of extreme stress and dominion.”
Mallory began or created many of the works in Gather Back during three artist residencies in Oregon: etchings from a Jordan Schnitzer Printmaking Residency at Sitka Center for the Arts, cast paper works from a C3:initiative + Pulp & Deckle Papermaking Residency, and glass works from a residency at Bullseye Projects. The creation of works was funded in part thanks to a Career Opportunity Grant from the Oregon Arts Commission.
Reformations, a monograph of prior work by Mallory, is available for purchase in the gallery or via Upfor Editions. It includes the complete text of Roberts’ essay.
THE ARTIST
Brenda Mallory (b. 1955 in Oklahoma) often deals with brokenness, disruption and repair in her abstract and highly textured works. Mallory’s many accolades include a Ucross Fellowship for Native American Visual Artists (2018), a Visual Arts Fellowship from the Native Arts and Culture Council (2016) and a Contemporary Native Artist Fellowship from the Eiteljorg Museum in Indiana (2015), as well as grants from the Oregon Arts Commission and Ford Family Foundation, and the Regional Arts and Culture Council. She has participated in artist residencies at Sitka Center, Crow’s Shadow Institute of the Arts, Bullseye Glass, Pulp & Deckle (in partnership with C3:initative), Anderson Ranch, the Map(ping) Project at Arizona State University and GLEAN. She holds a BFA from PNCA and a BA in Linguistics and English from UCLA. Brenda Mallory is a member of the Cherokee Nation. She lives and works in Portland, Oregon.
PRESS
Antidotes for anxiety - Oregon ArtsWatch
Things to do around Portland: The Arts - OregonLive
13 Things to See and Do around Portland: November 2019 - Portland Monthly