Opening May 2, ArtXchange Gallery presents five contemporary artists whose work is more than the sum of its parts.
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Naoko Morisawa creates images from hundreds of tiny slices of oil-dyed (wood) chips on board. Her Wave series at ArtXchange Gallery is a series of abstractions drawing from a variety of sources including the I-Ching and cell movement. Morisawa also creates playful works that draw from images of her daily life, including food, fashion, and music.

Jongsook Lee presents a series of paintings that combine the traditional techniques of Korean lacquer painting with a contemporary design aesthetic. Her surreal flowers and undulating forms are created from lacquer, paint, metal leafing, and the inlay of hundreds of pieces of mother-of-pearl or eggshell.

Bui Cong Khanh and the Le Brothers, three of Vietnam’s leading contemporary artists, exhibit lacquer paintings that show how different artists can use the traditional eggshell inlay to different effects. Khanh’s paintings, joyful expressions of Vietnamese daily life, present a highly refined use of duck eggshell inlay and gold leaf. The Le Brothers, twins Hai & Thanh, combine their use of eggshell with multicolored oil paint and a unique puzzle-piece effect to their inlay.

The mo•sa•ic exhibit at ArtXchange Gallery presents five contemporary artists whose artworks present alternatives to the traditional, Western-European image of mosaic art.

Naoko Morisawa will be in attendance at the opening reception, First Thursday May 2, 5-8pm.

Opening March 26 at ArtXchange Gallery, HiiH Lights presents INDIGO, a solo exhibition of lighted sculptures inspired by the dress, culture, and arts of the hill tribes in Northwest Vietnam. Undulating forms with brushstrokes of indigo play off the light and shadows in this dramatic installation.

The centerpiece of the exhibit, entitled Hut, is inspired by traditional stilt houses often built into the sides of mountain slopes in the Sapa region of Northwest Vietnam. Radiating outwards from Hut throughout the gallery are hanging and wall mounted sculptures that echo the people and objects that fill the home life of the hill tribes – indigo-dyed robes, swirling gowns, red headdresses, and celebratory lanterns.

HiiH Lights, pronounced “Hi Hi,” are a husband-wife team who work collaboratively from concept and design to the creation of dramatic paper lighted sculptures. Beginning with raw and natural materials, Lâm Quảng and Kestrel Gates employ both traditional and self-taught techniques to craft their work. The rhythms of papermaking, wire bending, and papering, painting and waxing are integrated into their daily lives.

“For us, this work feels both functional and expressive,” says HiiH. “We are deeply inspired by the natural world to invoke the cycles of new growth, of silence and fruition that we see and feel in our lives. Through our work, we hope to enhance these elements in other people’s lives.”

Lâm, originally from Vietnam, began making his own paper in the late 1990s. He soon turned his skills toward the creation of sculptural lighted forms, inspired by childhood memories of moon festivals. In time, Lâm’s papermaking skills reached a level of refinement allowing tremendous creative freedom. In 1998 he opened HiiH Gallery in the Alberta Arts District of Portland, Oregon. Kestrel joined Lâm in 2004, drawing on her background in painting and the performing arts to enrich the creation of HiiH’s artwork.

INDIGO runs through April 27, 2013.

Women’s Work at ArtXchange Gallery brings together six artists with global perspective to examine the role culture plays in constructing and deconstructing femininity. Through painting, photography, sculpture, installation, video, and printmaking, these six artists present fresh perspectives on the search for feminist identity throughout different cultures.

In Humaira Abid’s ‘Istri Series,’ the artist combines carved wood sculpture with contemporary miniature painting. In Hindi, the word istri means both ‘smoothing iron’ and ‘wife.’ The wry sense of humor found in Abid’s work belies the challenges faced by the artist in her native Pakistan, where both wood carving and nude figure painting (as depicted in the ‘Istri Series’) are unusual for a female artist, viewed as rebellious and frowned upon.

‘In Liminal Space’, a series of kimonos byJudy Shintani, are beautiful relics that remain after the artist has meditatively deconstructed the traditional garments of Japanese femininity. The resulting skeleton-like objects reflect the loosening connection to Shintani’s ancestry and culture.

In her “Collect Calls” series of prints, Kathy Liao depicts the internal conversations that take place between her dual Chinese and Japanese heritage, as deeply held beliefs are re-evaluated, challenged, and sometimes compromised. Liao uses this series to revisit and gain new understanding from her immigration experience.

Maura Donegan’s delicate embroidered fabric works reveal the balance between the contemporary and traditional. Donegan honors the crafts and heritage passed down through the women of her Irish family, while forging her own identity as an artist.

Beni O’Donnell’s large scale oil painting ‘Engagement’ reveals the artist’s desire to learn from and connect with her past. Through family photographs and historical research, she reconstructs a moment in the lives of her Ching-dynasty era ancestors.

Gazelle Samizay presents two short video works, “Upon my Daughter,” and “This will be the last.”  Each depict female protagonists questioning the burden of cultural and gendered expectations from her perspective as an Afghani woman. These works, say Samizay, “allow me to reveal unspoken stories buried in cultural silences.”

Opening December 6, 2012, ArtXchange Gallery presents Dog, Monkey, Crow, new sculpture by Elaine Hanowell. In this exhibition, Hanowell presents a body of sculptural work in hand-carved wood exploring the power and fragility inherent in animal forms.

Hanowell combines a spare, clean elegance with traditional techniques gained through residencies with master carvers in Indonesia. Her dappled strokes are enhanced with oil paint and encaustic, creating surfaces that glow with life force from within. The sculptural works in Dog, Monkey, Crow resonate with both the vulnerability and the nobility that continually draws Hanowell to the animal form.

“My main concern is what’s underneath the surface experience?” reflects Hanowell. “What are the embodied qualities of repose and what are our shared experiences of being human or animal? I’m looking to offer the viewer a chance to move from the personal to the universal.”

Dog, Monkey, Crow features carved work as well as new lighted sculpture. The installation brings a sense of the wild and the raw indoors with carved birds and animals as well as functional pieces for the home.

Dog, Monkey, Crow runs through January 26, 2013.

About the Artist:
Elaine Hanowell is a Pacific Northwest native whose work reflects the love of nature and wilderness associated with many Northwest artists, but combines that sensibility with the colors and textures of global cultures. Working primarily in wood and paper, her work is influenced by extensive study and travel in Asia.
She has done several residencies in Indonesia, absorbing the culture, gaining inspiration from their spirituality, and appreciating the color, texture, and expression of form that permeates their daily life. During these residencies she has also honed her skills as a woodcarver using traditional woods and tools.
Hanowell’s work has been featured in both solo and group shows since 1980. In 2007, Hanowell was honored with the Grand Prize in the Margo Harris Hammerschlag Biennial Open National Competition in Sculpture for Direct Carving, Awarded by the National Association of Women Artists in New York, the oldest professional women’s fine art organization in the United States.