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Jessie Rose Vala, Maria and Camille, 2024, stoneware, 78” x 48” x 8”. Photo credit: Mario Gallucci

Hyphae: a group exhibition exploring ecological mysticism

Pearl District

When

Oct. 3–Nov. 2, 2024

Days Vary, Times vary

Free

Where

Gallery 114

1100 NW Glisan St
Portland, OR 97209

The following description was submitted by the event organizer.

Hyphae converges nine artists whose work evokes an ecological mysticism. Working in two-dimensional, three-dimensional, and time-based media, these artists take inspiration from ancestral ways of relating to the world and the futuristic possibilities of speculative fiction. In some cases, they draw on geometry and symbols from sacred art traditions or abstracted renderings of cosmic and organic bodies. Some artists work with hybridity, merging the human and non-human in uncanny ways, unsettling notions of our separateness from nature.

This work is in dialogue with a broader context. There has lately been a widespread interest in spiritualist abstraction of the early 20th century, such as work by Hilma af Klint and Agnes Pelton. Works like Wangechi Mutu’s sculpture and Jeff Vandermeer’s fiction explore a fluid hybridity of human bodies and technology with non-human sentience, resulting in what writer Elvia Wilk calls “the new weird divine.” In this era of climate collapse, when the powerful display nihilistic contempt for both human and non-human life, a mycelial network of artists, writers, and scientists are making work for a future in which interspecies interdependence is valued. Hyphae surveys a multiplicity of approaches by artists from the Pacific Northwest and across the United States.

This exhibition is funded in part by the Regional Arts and Culture Council.

David Onri Anderson, Francis Dot, Sadé DuBoise, Kanetaka Ikeda, Carlie Kinto, Catherine Sieck, Petra Szilagyi, Jessie Rose Vala, Brian Zegeer
Curated by Sharon Servilio

Opening Reception: Thursday, October 3, 5-8 p.m.
Artist panel: Saturday, October 5 at 3 p.m.

Accessibility information: Gallery 114 is on the lower level, accessible by one flight of stairs or by elevator. The elevator is manually operated. Please ring the buzzer or call 503-243-3356 for assistance.