“All play means something.” - Johan Huizinga

Stephanie Chefas Projects is delighted to present Portland based artist Nathan Paul Rice in the Annex space this September with Mini Parc. Rice uses drawings, sculptures, structures, and publications to explore physical and emotional spaces. His designs invite a playful and participatory experience that brings attention to the spaces existing between objects, their uses, and their meanings.

"Mini Parc is a series of wood sculptures inspired by my research of play spaces and toy blocks as pedological spaces and objects.", states Rice. "In the studio my work always returns to the gesture of drawing. These pieces were drawn with woodworking tools to explore the relationship between two dimensional lines and three dimensional objects. Individually, each block is an enigmatic object. Collectively, they work together with their neighbor to become inhabitants of an unnamed but familiar public space."

In 2003 Rice received his BA in Fine Art from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, OR. He spent the following decade as an arts and writing educator in San Francisco working with the San Francisco Unified School District and City College of San Francisco. In 2018, he earned his MFA in Applied Craft + Design, from the Pacific Northwest College of Art.

Opening Day for Mini Parc will be held at Stephanie Chefas Projects on Saturday, September 4th from 1-6pm. Masks are required and social distancing practices are encouraged. Stephanie Chefas Projects is located in Portland, Oregon at 305 SE 3rd Avenue on the second floor of the Urban Row building. The exhibition will be on view through October 2, 2021 and is free and open to the public.