Surrounded by a sea of wheat, a forest becomes an island to its inhabitants. A backyard garden nestled in suburban sprawl can isolate just the same. The domestic spaces that we tend have biogeography distinct from those of our neighbors, and yet with each gesture we make on the land – mowing a lawn, raking fallen needles, planting flowers, or digging up weeds, we further shift the identity of these spaces. Through this practice we are active in the hollowing out of the landscape. Even absence or neglect on our part cannot return it to its origin, as its qualities are always shifting.
Elliott’s paintings of endemic and invasive plant species highlight the unruly bounty at our feet, while Mease’s meandering work in sculpture and paint investigates the signs and signifiers of the Wildland-Urban interface. In A Creeping Normality, the two artists consider new forms of ecological harmony, contradiction, and unease achieved through a sustained practice of observation.
Claire Elliott is a painter who lives and works in Portland, OR. Her work has been exhibited across the US and is represented in public and private collections nationally. She received her MFA from The School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University in 2014 and a B.S. from Skidmore College in Studio Art.
Asa Mease received his BA in studio art and biology from Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington. He currently lives and works in Milwaukie, Oregon. In 2019 he participated in the GLEAN Portland Residency, and recently received a Regional Arts and Culture Council Grant to fund the work for this show.
