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March/April 2006 Living Now
Aboriginal and Native American images through the eyes of two artists

The Shadow Carries the Dream by Jan Shield Medias: Clay, acrylic emulsions and ochres 4'x7'

"Continuum", an installation by Richard Rowland and Jan Shield will be at the Chambers Gallery, 207 S.W. Pine Street, No. l02 from March l-31, 2006. The opening reception on Thursday, March 9, 5:30-9:00, will feature a gallery talk with the artists at 8:00, and Music by Ed Drury on Didgeridoo. Gallery hours: Wed-Sat. l2-6pm.

The interpretations of two artists on the nature of Being are juxtaposed, as they explore the surface meaning of things and ideas in relation to the wider global reality. Many of the works in Clay, Mixed Media, Drawing, Painting and other materials spring from travels to Australia and then become infused in the realm of the American Northwest. Behind these relationships we recognize that we are all custodians of the environment that surrounds us. In the interplay of the world of the Aboriginal and the Native American, we glimpse what we might call the Now. "Mindscapes" could describe these two artists’ creations. Clay is clay, but it is only the beginning when we realize the current and the polarities that we live within in this electronic age. The wonder of the spiral of existence with myth, image, icon, and object merging with surface, takes us into additonal expressive dimensions. Materials speak to us in the continuum of our experiences.

The infusion with associations to material with clay being a primary one and others becoming integral within the works is a connection to NCECA and their coinciding national conference in Portland during March. Clay is clay, but it is only the beginning when we realize the current and the polarities that we live within in this electronic age.

This exhibit coincides with the 40th Annual Conference of NCECA (National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts) March 8-11, 2006 at the Oregon Convention Center, 777 NE MLK Jr. Blvd, Portland, Oregon.