It has been a little while since Bruce Conkle has treated us to a full solo show in Portland... but he has been in Mongolia (with Marne Lucas for an Ecobaroque project) so he has an excuse. (Is Mongolian excuse an actual term? If not it should be!) Regardless, Bruce is one of the few award winning multi-media artists in the Northwest that focuses primarily on the conceptual nature of the work... which explains why his work finds traction outside the Northwest Craft Bubble. (That's right I just coined the term "Northwest Craft Bubble"). His shows are always phantasmagorias of eco-tech-witchery wrapped in a hilarious conceptual shell so you will want to see this.

According to the PR: "Tree Clouds is an exhibition of new sculptures and mixed media drawings constructed by Bruce Conkle with his own peculiar brand of dark humor. The title 'Tree Clouds' refers to the smoke produced when aromatic resin from trees is burned. The scented clouds are literally puffs of smoke that had their origins from within the trees. Several of the sculptures are bronze incense burners, and periodically during the exhibition they will be used to burn aromatic resins collected from trees native to the Pacific NW as incense. Conkle has gathered the aromatic resins from various trees of the Pacific Northwest- including Sitka Spruce, Douglas Fir, Ponderosa Pine and Shore Pine. He will be burning some of the collected incense at the reception." Let's hope he doesn't burn hemlock?

Tree Clouds is made possible in part through a Project Grant from the Regional Arts & Culture Council.

Tree Clouds | December 8 - 20
Opening Reception: Saturday December 8th 6-8PM
Autzen Gallery | Portland State University
Neuberger Hall | 2nd Floor Room 205
724 SW Harrison St. @ Broadway