This view presents a detailed section of the mural, A Legend of Multnomah Falls., Ruth Brockmann; Multnomah Falls detail; kiln-cast glass, fused glass, colored cement; 1992; Ptld. State Office Bldg.;, http://www.holstengalleries.com/artists/show/brockmann-4, The Oregon Arts Commission has ten Regional Arts Councils that provide delivery of art services and information. The Council for this location is: Regional Arts & Culture. You may view their website at http://www.racc.org/
This view presents a detailed section of the mural, The Bridge of the Gods., Ruth Brockmann; Bridge of the Gods detail; kiln-cast glass, fused glass, colored cement; 1992; Ptld. State Office Bldg., http://www.holstengalleries.com/artists/show/brockmann-4, The Oregon Arts Commission has ten Regional Arts Councils that provide delivery of art services and information. The Council for this location is: Regional Arts & Culture. You may view their website at http://www.racc.org/
A colorful rendering of what appears to be an open, yellow book with a white left-hand page and a red right-hand page. Gestural blue, green, and white lines cover the entire composition. This is one of three views of this artwork. Variations between duplicate images relate directly to original source materials., Mixed & minotype; 29 1/2 x 41 1/2 inches; 1980, http://www.seattleprintarts.org/memberspgs/jsr/index.html, The Oregon Arts Commission has ten Regional Arts Councils that provide delivery of art services and information. The Council for this location is: Regional Arts & Culture. You may view their website at http://www.racc.org/
Imposition detail shows a closer view of the individual squares of hand-made paper and mixed media that comprise the larger square of the entire piece., Imposition; #1, npobanz@comcast.net, http://www.nancypobanz.com/, The Oregon Arts Commission has ten Regional Arts Councils that provide delivery of art services and information. The Council for this location is Lane Arts. You may view their website at http://www.lanearts.org
Two fish forms are presented along with a coiled snake form over the top of what appears to be collaged shreds of hand-written documents. The written text reads, " The two fishes are one not two and all three things are contained in them. Cook these together and they will become a vast ocean.", Pisces #2; 15.5 x 15.25 inches; mixed media; 1998, My recent works on paper are inspired by alchemical manuscripts. The alchemists documented their labors in enigmatic texts in which chemical procedures, cosmology and myths are woven together into fantastic allegories. Similarly in my paintings I use imagery of birds, beasts, plants and minerals as symbols of the process of transformation, As an artist I view alchemy as a metaphor for the creative process in which there is progressive transformation and refinement of materials, imagery and ultimately consciousness. In alchemy and art alike the creative imagination is the vital agent of change. The alchemists described their labors as an "art". Like the alchemist I attempt to use physical processes as a mirror of inner experience. The materials become "transmuted" from their initially inert state through creative and chaotic struggle into a new synthesis. In my painting I use physical processes of dissolution, evaporation, heat and gravity which remind me of the alchemist's use of the elements of water, air, fire and earth. Humor is an important element of my work. Likewise humor and paradox were not unknown to the alchemist. The texts abound with cryptic riddles meant to befuddle the literal-minded and catalyze intuitive insight. Hermes, the Greek god of wisdom, was the patron of alchemists and also the trickster who could lead his followers on a search to find "fools gold". Anyone who embarks on a potentially quixotic search to find the elixir of immortality should have plenty of humor and humility to sustain themselves! The homunculus, a human-like creature nurtured in a glass vessel was reputed to have been created in the alchemical laboratory. In the novel "Frankenstein" the renegade doctor studies the writings of Paracelsus, the swiss alchemist, before creating his monster. I see the homunculus as a metaphor for modem technology with all its wonders and potential horrors. The series of "Homunculus" sculptures which utilize remnants of household appliances and found objects explores this theme in a whimsical fashion. The alchemist searched for the "gold of the philosophers"-philosophical wisdom. In their pursuit of nature's secrets they combined scientific experimentation with a mystical quest for illumination. Their holistic view of the universe viewed matter and consciousness as a continuum, anticipating recent developments in physics. Alchemy is the ancestor of modem science; perhaps there is something that can be learned from its legacy? I am inspired artistically by the beauty of the texts and their insights into the mysteries of creation. Hopefully my own fanciful creations convey something of the spirit of that tradition. (Nez, 1998), http://www.augengallery.com/Artists/nez.html, The Oregon Arts Commission has ten Regional Arts Councils that provide delivery of art services and information. The Council for this location is Lane Arts. You may view their website at http://www.lanearts.org
Outrigger No. 2 juxtaposes natural elements (quills) with man-made elements (sails, kites) that represent flight. This view represents the presentation and context of the piece., Susanna Kuo; outrigger no.2; 1980; 22x22x3 inches; peacock quills; katazome (stencil resist dyeing) on silk; acrylic; case., in 1962, Kuo graduated from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon. She holds an M.A. in English literature from Mount Holyoke College and a Ph.D. in English literature and folklore from indiana University. Kuo is one of the authors of "Carved Paper: The Art of the Japanese Stencil," published in 1998., The Oregon Arts Commission has ten Regional Arts Councils that provide delivery of art services and information. The Council for this location is: Mid-Valley Arts. You may view their website at: http://www.oregonlink.com/arts/index.html
Flourescent pink, blue, green, yellow, and orange create a backdrop for five large butterfly forms whose wings display geometric patterning and mosaic inlay., The Oregon Arts Commission has ten Regional Arts Councils that provide delivery of art services and information. The Council for this location is: Regional Arts & Culture. You may view their website at http://www.racc.org/
A concrete lizard inlaid with ceramic mosaic pieces that occupies the underside of a metal stairway., The Oregon Arts Commission has ten Regional Arts Councils that provide delivery of art services and information. The Council for this location is: Regional Arts & Culture. You may view their website at http://www.racc.org/
Three of six bug benches, each decorated with unique colorful, geometric patterns., The Oregon Arts Commission has ten Regional Arts Councils that provide delivery of art services and information. The Council for this location is: Regional Arts & Culture. You may view their website at http://www.racc.org/
This abstract, geometric mixed media piece presents patterned sections of red, blue, and pink, highlighted with smaller yellow forms and other snippets of pattern. A black-and-white dotted line outlines the forms., A mixed media art piece featuring a large blue triangle set against a red and pink background. There are strips of colors and patterns collaged onto one another., (1996) James Thompson was born in Chicago, Il. He attended Ripon College, receiving a BA in Art/Art History and MFA from Washington University, School of Fine Arts, St. Louis, MO. He taught at Ripon College, University of Alaska and has been a Professor of, email@jamesdavidthomas.com, http://www.jamesdavidthomas.com/index2.html, The Oregon Arts Commission has ten Regional Arts Councils that provide delivery of art services and information. The Council for this location is: Mid-Valley Arts. You may view their website at: http://www.oregonlink.com/arts/index.html