Carson Ellis @ Nationale

Nationale opens this Saturday with a series of new works on paper by Carson Ellis influenced by the Norwegian novelist Sigrid Undset and her acclaimed Kristin Lavransdattar trilogy. "Her characters' navigate their destinies with the inspiring, yet clearly fated, qualities of romantic stoicism and self-determination. The resulting discord between this tragic core and Ellis' serene, midnight landscapes of snow-covered fields, stave churches, and fantastical vegetation inspires a new folklore that, while rooted in a romanticized past, ultimately evokes a more introspective present." Midori Hirose's stark snowdrift sculptures will accompany the works on paper.

Carson Ellis | Mush, Mush, the Sloping Midnight Line
with supporting works by Midori Hirose
On view November 14 - December 9, 2012
Opening reception | November 17th | 6-8 PM
Nationale | 811 E Burnside

Part of the series Red Heat Tremors by Jared Haug, construction paper faded with stencils and sun, 2012

Ditch Project co-directors Jared Haug and Brooks Dierdorff make work out in Eugene/Springfield rivaling that of their peer group in the NW region, but their work often doesn't make it out to Portland. Recognizing a common interest in (failed) representations of nature in an increasingly digitized age, they've teamed up for an exhibition opening this Friday at RECESS. "The work in Window Smokers reflects imagery of a cultivated, synthetic, and manipulated nature. With the myth of an untainted landscape in sight, Haug and Dierdorff search for an interface between nature and representation where the unenclosed can be depicted in its disappearance. Utilizing photography, video, and sculpture they investigate the rift between the real and representation, nature and culture, the viewer and the viewed."

Brooks Dierdorff and Jared Haug | Window Smokers
Opening Reception | November 16th | 7-10 PM
RECESS | 1127 SE 10th Avenue

This weekend, the extremely busy Daniel J Glendening has a solo exhibition opening at FalseFront. The manifesto-like press release for this show doesn't educate curious audiences on the characteristics of the works to be seen. Instead it probes some of the basic questions addressed by Thing Theory and hints at shamanistic motifs. "Earth is represented by a circle split into four quarters, or, alternatively, by an equilateral triangle, pointed downward, bisected by a horizontal line; fire an equilateral triangle, pointed upward. The symbol for gold is a circle with a single point at its center."

Daniel J Glendening | Conjurer
November 17th - December 9th
Opening Reception | November 17th | 7-10 PM
FalseFront | 4518 NE 32ND Avenue