Closing Reception for Bend Art Center

On Aug. 17, Bend Art Center will host a closing reception for its final show, “A Sense of Order.” Curated by Julie Winter, the exhibition features artists Sarah Helen More, Shin Yeon Jeon and Susan Porteous. While each artist works in a different medium, bringing individual sensibilities to the theme, the show is also cohesive, with a tranquil quality that invites the viewer to explore the details of each piece.

More’s paintings in geometric pattern offer the illusion of perfection, with crisp appearing lines that one might assume had been taped for errorless execution. Upon closer inspection, one sees the slightest imperfections and realizes that these were done freehand—a revelation exposing the artist’s humanity and a delightful tension between perception and reality.

Shin Yeon Jeon stands with her work. Credit: Nancy Floyd

In contrast, the work of Shin Yeon Jeon lays everything bare at the outset, inviting the viewer to enter into an emotional state. The work includes exquisite clay sculptures of squares and breasts, each expressively storied with human images and dynamic glazing, many of the breasts with gold appearing to flow from the nipple. Starting there, one may explore the complexity and dynamism of this work, perhaps finding through each unique piece a codified whole.

The work of Susan Porteous, though precise—thousands of origami folds executed to make stars, a waddle of penguins and an aircraft fleet—brings levity to the show. Porteous’ work is clever and graphic, and calls us to look for connections outside of ourselves. Thus, we are reminded that the substance of one’s work is often found in the source of its inspiration.

Bend Art Center is a central figure in Bend’s art community, and it is closing after this reception, for now. They’re planning a comeback, though, and invite everyone to the reception—not only to see a great exhibit, but to collaborate on a collage that will help map BAC’s future.