after / time collective & gallery, artists Alex Stone and Cassie Ferguson and curator Tien Austin are delighted to announce their exhibition Solus / Solace.
Join the in-person opening reception on Thursday, June 1st, 5-8 pm at after/time, located at 730 SW 10th, #110, Portland, OR 97205 (entrance on SW 9th between SW Morrison & Yamhill).
The exhibition will run June 1 - July 1, 2023 and will include an artists’ talk on June 23, 7-9 pm. This is the first exhibition of these two Portland-based artists at after / time, and it promises to be an exceptional and powerful one. Hours: Tues and Thurs 6-8, Sat-Sun 12-4
Through a seamless blend of traditional techniques and craft, Stone and Ferguson’s work in Solus / Solace invites viewers to explore personal experience and perspectives.
Stone’s practice, rooted in sewing crafts and storytelling, encourages the viewers to explore their understanding of the world. The imagery she uses is largely influenced by nursery rhyme illustrations, creating a sense of familiarity. But upon a second glance and the viewer's interpretation, these images carry a difficult subtext. In Solus / Solace, Stone revisits a difficult memory through a fictional space, warping time to evoke the feeling of flashbacks by using elements of both her past and present self.
Ferguson is a printmaker and film photographer. She works in a variety of highly involved analog print and photo processes including photogravure etching, silver-gelatin printing, and stone lithography. Drawing from her experience as a skateboarder, Ferguson uses her prints to document and showcase various aspects of skate culture. By meticulously gathering, processing, and presenting moments she spends at skateparks, Ferguson has found a way to honor these structures and locations that may not typically be considered “valuable”. With this body of work, Ferguson has created a visual vocabulary representing her interpretation of solace.
Cassie Ferguson is a Portland-based printmaker and film photographer. She works in a variety of print and photo processes including photogravure etching, silver-gelatin printing, and stone lithography. In her work, she draws from her experience as a skateboarder, and uses her prints to document and showcase various aspects of skate culture. Cassie received her B.S. in Biology with a Minor in Art from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, and her MFA in Print Media from Pacific Northwest College of Art at Willamette University. Under her newly established print shop, Lost Bearings Press, she also operates as a collaborative printer and works with fellow artists to produce and publish editions from her home studio. Currently, she is employed as studio manager at Neu Haus Press in Portland, OR.
Alex Stone is an artist and maker living in Portland, OR. After receiving her BA in Anthropology and French from San Francisco State University, Alex went on to pursue work in event production, forestry, marine biology and tailoring. Alex recently earned her MFA in Applied Craft + Design from the Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, OR. Alex works out of her home studio, where she paints, illustrates, sews, and embroiders fabric on a variety of handmade objects. She uses her sculpture to build environments that tell stories, and her clothing to transport those stories into the world.
Tien Austin is a Seattle-based film photographer and curator. Tien received her B.A. in Fine Art and Psychology from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. She previously curated a film photography group show at the Museum of Museums in Seattle, WA. She is currently working as a Communications Associate at the Schultz Family Foundation.
This exhibition was generously supported by The Ford Family Foundation, Portland Institute of Contemporary Art (PICA) and Prosper Portland.
