LED, CIRCUIT BOARDS, CIRCUIT TREES (two weeks left)

We are approaching the final two weeks of the current show at The Globe. It has been a hit and we held it over for another month. I have artwork up; however, I’m also the curator (isn’t that convenient?).  The other featured artists are Hans Fuson and David Walker. The opening night was super fun and you can check out Hans’ photos here.

I’ve been wanting to show Hans Fuson’s work for a while! He makes some amazing lightbox creations that merge various technologies. He utilizes old-school and contemporary sign-illumination techniques, such as internal and external neon and LED lights. The imagery is created with techniques ranging from hand painted and hand-cut vinyl to high-tech digital photo-transparencies.  Most of these fine art pieces are priced lower than a generic sign for your quickie mart, using the same technology (priced nicely). The glow from the neon and LED has such an impact, lighting the artwork from within and accenting every reflective surface in the room with subtle hints of color.

Thematically, Hans leans toward natural shapes and imagery. These digitally manipulated flowers, lit with electronics, and organic abstracts with Tron-like glow all suggest the merging of nature and technology.

I included circuit board artwork that was created for the Manor of Art at Milepost five, a couple Summers ago. These vinyl circuitry patterns are manipulated from actual circuit-board photos and reduced to vector art, mirrored and repeated. The effect is that they are possibly hand cut (actually cut by computer guided plotter) and hint at woodcuts, weavings, and woodgrain. Additional images of embryonic babies, wired into motherboards, suggest that maybe computers are learning how to be more human. Maybe humans are acting more like computers.

Tying it together, we have five paintings by David Walker. I like to call these Circuit-trees. They are exactly that, evergreens painted with the pattern of so many interwoven circuits and roots wired into the ground. These are the thematic link. Technology becoming Nature.

This show is hanging thru March, at The Globe (2045 SE Belmont, Portland, OR).