Aย new art exhibit at Scalehouse gallery is conceived from the idea that seeing one’s own reflection is troubling. In the early 1900s, Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa explored the notion that a mirror is unnatural because it collapses the distance between the “I who sees” and the “I who is seen.” Today, Oregon artist Ben Buswell has put his own twist on that concept. His exhibit covers the floor with a reflective surface that won’t allow the viewer to see their own image.
Titled “This Land,” Buswell explores how identity is shaped by place, perception and historical context. In a news release, Scalehouse states that rather than offering a clear sense of self, the work asks viewers to consider how they are formed through their environments. The exhibit also features a series of photographs that transform data from violent crimes, income levels and federal funding into a visual language. Buswell believes the self is neither separate from nor defined by its surroundings. Instead, he suggests identity is formed through the tension between connection and disconnection, or empathy and shared experience.
“I want to collapse space through empathy in order to give our position in that space potential for a greater understanding, particularly in our relations with others,” Buswell told Oregon Contemporary in Portland where his exhibit just finished showing. “In turn, our perceptions become more emotional and therefore enhance our awareness. Think of it like returning the gaze of a hiker on a cliff above where you were standing, telescoping that connectivity to close the gap between both parties so that you might then recognize yourself through the shared gaze. That displacement is expansive.”
Buswell is based in Portland. His sculptures span a variety of media including ceramics, metals, resins, incised photographs and more. He exposes the materials to physical processes like scratching, piercing, melting and tearing, so that the accumulation of small, repetitive gestures builds into a complex whole.
An opening reception for Buswell’s exhibit is Friday, July 11, 5-7pm. His work will be on display through Aug. 30.
This article appears in Source Weekly July 10, 2025.
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