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Terroir for Beginners, A site-specific installation by Laura Hughes 


  • SATOR projects Southeast 3rd Avenue Portland, OR, 97214 United States (map)

Terroir is a French term used to describe environmental factors and contexts that influence crops such as wine, cider, coffee and chocolate. These regional characteristics are studied under the presumption that the land a crop is grown on imparts unique qualities specific to that habitat. It includes the natural elements that are beyond human control as well as human decisions about which crops to grow in a particular area. 

Terroir for Beginners adopts this concept in alignment with how a work of art evolves relative to contextual factors and artistic decision making. It explores tensions between time, space, structure, and movement to question distinctions between artwork, viewer and their surroundings. Mirrored forms and mixed objects interact in a new environmental context in which they must operate together to become intelligible. Beyond the objects and surfaces implemented by the artist, other factors such as architecture, outdoor light conditions and reflections become essential visual contributors which also continually shift relative to movement.
 
Laura Hughes is a visual artist based in Portland, OR, who creates site-specific installations that investigate how light, form and space surround and shape one another in our perception. Directly responding to the given features of architectural space, she manipulates reflective materials and artificial or natural light to navigate dimensional relationships, intersecting planes, and shifting visibilities relative to surface, space and the movements of viewers. Originally from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Hughes has received multiple grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Regional Arts & Culture Council, the Oregon Arts Commission, the Ford Family Foundation and the Alberta Foundation for the Arts. She teaches undergraduate and graduate students at Portland State University and the Pacific Northwest College of Art.

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.

Friday - Sunday, 12PM - 5PM