In CAIRNATOPIA, artist Nan Curtis presents a distinctive cache of found objects and constructed forms. This new body of work showcases various mediums, including; kiln-formed glass, construction flags, and springs from an old mattress. Intensely personal possessions, a handmade indigo-dyed and woven rug, diaries, childhood dolls, boxes of ashes from deceased pets, and the urn of the artist's father coalesce, carefully and precariously, arranged in piles, stacks – cairns. They denote place, purpose, memory, and admiration while being sportive and comical.
Materiality is at the forefront of Curtis’s work and continues to be a source of inspiration in these new sculptures. Curtis used her studio’s library to draw from, full of scrap metals and furniture, cloth, fabrics, stones, and tangible curiosities. Many of these items are things Curtis has accumulated over the years; transported and cared for between homes, studios, and back again. The playfulness in Curtis’s work hints at constructed worlds, the unknown, and the counterintuitive. An ongoing fascination occurs when working with a medium or belonging. In this collection of sculptures, she often used the material as a starting point for exploration. Following the lead of the material, the action of making seeking to perceive; markers and monuments, memorials and direction.
Curtis constructs a uniquely individualized series of works that are odes to reminiscence, relationships, and time. However, their meaning and importance are also characteristically cultural, communal, and universal. The indeterminate and fractal way heritage, existence, and recollection are altered and displaced over time are not only explored but exalted.
Nan Curtis is an interdisciplinary artist working in various mixed media, sculpture, and installation. Curtis’s craft-based experience in welding and fabrication is at the forefront of her artistic practice. Assemblage, craft, and readymades coexist uniquely across the breadth of Curtis’s work. She received her Masters of Fine Arts from the University of Cincinnati and a Bachelor of Arts from the College of Wooster. She previously held positions as faculty and the Chair of Studio Arts and Director/Curator of the Feldman Gallery at Pacific Northwest College of Art. In 2011, she was the recipient of the prestigious Bonnie Bronson Fellowship. Curtis has shown at the Art Gym, Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Fourteen30 Contemporary, NINE Gallery, Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, and Williamson/Knight (now HOLDING Contemporary) in Portland, Oregon. Other national exhibitions include; ConsolidatedWorks, (Seattle, WA) DiverseWorks, (Houston, Texas), Linfield College (McMinnville, OR), Mira Costa College (San Diego, CA), and Tacoma Art Museum (Tacoma, WA). She has been an artist-in-residence at Caldera Arts, Mira Costa College, Oregon College of Art and Craft, and Yucca Valley Material Lab. Her work is included in several private and public collections, notably; Portland Art Museum, Joan and John Shipley, Sarah Miller Meigs, and Reed College, and has been featured in ArtForum, ArtWeek, Portland Monthly, The Oregonian, and The Stranger.
Jess Nickel is an independent curator based in Portland, Oregon. She received BFA from the University of Oregon and began her career as an artist. In 2011 she was awarded a year-long artist residency with Engage Studios in Galway, Ireland. Here, she worked with a group organizing pop-up exhibitions in vacant spaces throughout the city. Since then, she has worked for arts institutions such as the For-Site Foundation in San Francisco, and held directorship positions at Disjecta, Upfor Gallery, Newspace and Converge 45 in Portland. She continues her curatorial practice through her roving exhibition series, SATOR projects.
SATOR projects is a migrating exhibition series directed by Jess Nickel. The name is inspired by the sator/rotas square. While the meaning of this symbol has been interpreted in various ways, this project was inspired by the Latin meaning behind SATOR - sower, planter, and its reverse ROTAS - rotating, turning wheels. It is the mission of SATOR projects to seed arts into communities through exhibitions, public programs and events.
