After two days of snow, the sun has finally made its return and I hope it’s here to stay! March marks the start of spring and with it comes many exciting things; warmer weather, cherry blossoms, and new exciting exhibitions at the galleries! This month, I want to highlight the theme of weaving, which can present itself both figuratively and literally.

This first one may be a bit of a stretch, but if remembering less turbulent political times is something you’d like to weave into your current reality, start with a visit to Franklin Foto Gallery on March 8th for a special event featuring photography of the widely beloved late president, Jimmy Carter. Dinh Q. Lê’s intricate photo-weavings are on view in his first posthumous show at Elizabeth Leach Gallery. This month, Well Well Project exhibits a variety of materials woven together to create compelling compositions while at Carnation Contemporary, two distinct artists weave together their individual practices together to create a collaborative exhibition. In Eugene, Maude Kerns Art Center’s figurative, body-focused exhibition includes several weaving-based works among many other mediums.

Dinh Q. Lê: A Survey 1995 – 2023
Dinh Q. Lê
March 5- April 26
Elizabeth Leach Gallery 
417 NW 9th Ave, Portland, OR 97209

Dinh Q. Lê: A Survey 1995 – 2023 marks Elizabeth Leach’s first exhibition of Dinh Q. Lê’s work since his unfortunate passing in April 2024. Elizabeth Leach started showing Lê’s experimental work in 1998. The current exhibition covers his three-decade-long career and showcases his talent in photography, photo-weaving, and sculpture. Perhaps the most unique part of Lê’s legacy is his incorporation of traditional Vietnamese mat weaving techniques into his art practice. In these compositions, conflicting images and ideas including Western consumer items, Hollywood film stills, Buddhist and communist symbols are woven together to form a visually and conceptually complex image of identity, memory, and historical record. 

ja’ / buuts’ / t’aan (Water / Smoke / Word)
Patricia Vázquez Gómez 
March 13- May 31 
PICA
15 NE Hancock Street, Portland, OR 97212 

Portland-based video artist Patricia Vázquez Gómez, alongside a group of Mayan youth residing in Northeast Portland, has created a multichannel video and sound installation that explores the struggles to learn and retain Indigenous languages. This installation features public engagement, print, and media works and investigates the relationship between the Mayan youth and their native language, maayat’aan. The featured video was primarily shot in the Yucatán area and acts as a spotlight to highlight the historical and modern day Indigenous identities within the Mayan diaspora of the U.S. 

Semi-Learned Borrowings 
Pete Hoffecker Mejía
March 1- 30 
Well Well Projects
8371 N Interstate Ave #1, Portland, OR 97217

Sponsor

Discarded elements are assembled into unified, albeit contrasting, compositions in Well Well Project’s newest exhibition, Semi-Learned Borrowings. Pete Hoffecker Mejía weaves together commercial packaging, plastic, wood scraps, welded steel, and laser-cut plexiglass to create compelling compositions in his multi-media works. Mejía takes inspiration from modernist tropes and Latin American abstraction to meditate on the themes of belonging, difference, estrangement, and hierarchies of representation in his configurations.

Dream Juice
Curated by Erika Callihan  
March 7- April 12
Paragon Arts Gallery 
815 N. Killingsworth St. Portland, OR 97217

Dream Juice is a multimedia group exhibition that presents work from 25 artists all exploring the ideas that come from dreams. The limitless elements and themes of dreams come to light through paintings, drawings, collages, performances, photos, prints, songs, zines, videos, lamps, pillows, cookies, cake, candy, snacks, and a papier-mache dating app. The featured artists weave together the complexity of dreams and ponder on the idea of what dreams truly are. When do dreams begin, when do they finish, and what does the involuntary act of dreaming mean to each artist? 

Painting in Time 
Phyllis Trowbridge 
February 24- March 21
North View Gallery 
PCC Sylvania Campus, 12000 SW 49th Avenue Portland, OR

Plein air artist Phyllis Trowbridge has observed the Pacific Northwest landscapes for decades, recording subtle and dramatic changes in the sites she visits year after year. Trowbridge’s plein air paintings range from massive oil paintings to intimate watercolor paintings and serve as an exposé of the many impacts of climate change. Consequences of drought, fire, and heat domes are documented in Trowbridge’s paintings of ancient trees and moss-covered greenery found in places around the Pacific Northwest including Portland’s beloved Forest Park. Woven together with an essay written by art historian Prudence Roberts, Painting in Time shows the viewer not an idealized version of the Pacific Northwest but instead the truth of our real environment.

Book of Matches
Nate Ethington 
February 28- March 29 
Chefas Projects 
134 SE Taylor St Suite 203, Portland, OR 97214 

Book of Matches marks Nate Ethington’s first solo exhibition with Chefas Projects. Ethington uses a layering process of hiding and revealing gestural marks and notes of handwriting to explore the philosophy of a match. To Ethington, the intense but fleeting flame of the match represents the delicate give and take in our experiences with others. The match is simultaneously both life-giving and destructive and acts as a point for connection at times and a cry for help at others. Ethington pushes the boundaries of these contradictions through his deliberate use of mark making and gestures of texture in his mixed media paintings. 

Clearcut Oregon 
David Mayfield 
March 7- 30 
Newport Visual Arts Center 
777 NW Beach Dr, Newport, OR 97365 

Sponsor

As the name suggests, Clearcut Oregon features oil paintings of aerial landscapes of forest practices in actual locations in Western Oregon. These paintings reveal the reality behind the logging industry: visually striking and publicly polarizing. Mayfield has selected these landscapes for their striking lines, squares, and other shapes that interweave over the naturally formed patterns of the environment. Each painting within this series is named after the county it depicts. Also on display this month in the Newport Visual Arts Center is the third annual member show featuring a fresh take on the theme of birds and spring colors. Cork Creations by Conrad Willet which showcases maritime-themed wine cork sculptures are also on display. 

Seen: A Regional Figurative Exhibit 
February 21- March 21 
Maude Kerns Art Center
1910 East 15th Avenue, Eugene, OR 97403 

54 artists are featured in Maude Kerns Art Center group exhibition Seen: A Regional Figurative Exhibit. This exhibit focuses on the human body and how artists use the human figure to tell a story through various mediums such as painting, mixed media, sculpture, photography, and more. The featured artists weave together the complexities of the human body to create compelling narratives and important stories. The approaches to the figurative subject matter are diverse, highlighting the bodies and stories of those that have not historically been portrayed. Juried by Portland State University professor Jeff Leake, this group exhibition asks questions about the narrative aspects of the human body. 

File Not Found
Quinha Faria and Elizabeth Arzani 
March 1- 30
Carnation Contemporary 
8371 N Interstate Ave, Portland, OR 97217 

Absence, missing links, deleted files, and offline presence are explored through paintings, print media, and sculptures in Carnation Contemporary’s File Not Found. Artists Quinha Faria and Elizabeth Arzani delve into the world of technology and explore what happens when connections are interrupted or lost. Their works create new ways to think about relationships, memory, and networks of care. Faria and Arzani weave their individual art practices together to create new ways to digest information and transformation. 

uneasyWONDER
Kathleen Caprario 
February 24- March 20 
Lane Community College 
4000 E 30th Ave, Eugene, OR 97405 

Artist and writer Kathleen Caprario is known for her unique style of visual art and storytelling. In uneasyWONDER at Lane Community College, Caprario dives into the themes of identity, nature, emotional depth, and connection to the Oregon landscape. With a background in screenwriting, she creates mixed media paintings with compelling and engaging narratives that are woven together with her intricate visual patterns, vibrant colors, and attention to detail. 

Sponsor