RACC Press Releases

The Regional Arts & Culture Council presents the temporary installation, Polychrome Accumulation, by Portland artist, Sarah Wolf Newlands, in the Portland Building lobby installation space, February 28-March 25, 2005. The Portland Building, located at 1120 SW 5th Avenue, is open to the public from 7am - 6pm, Monday through Friday.

For this installation, Wolf Newlands carefully selected numerous used solid colored wool blankets. She then bound each blanket tightly with upholstery thread, causing their forms to coil and twist. The process of continuous wrapping resulted in a rhythmic linear cadence within each form. The repetitive work is like the ceaseless rhythmic work of a spider spinning its web, "winding up the thread in order to spin a new one." Using discarded domestic materials is the artist’s way of coming to terms with the "everyday world of stuff." The artist has said, "If many of the repeated activities of our daily lives were drained of their purpose, they would be considered absurd and compulsive, Polychrome Accumulation is about the absurdity and compulsive nature of life itself."

Sarah Wolf Newlands received her M.F.A. in painting from Portland State University where she presently is an adjunct professor. Her work has been included in exhibitions in Portland at The Modern Zoo in 2003 and in Blackfish Gallery. She is represented by the Marghitta Feldman Gallery in Northwest Portland.

Background
Sponsored by the Regional Arts & Culture Council since 1994, the Installation Art Series at the Portland Building invites the general public to re-examine its expectations and definitions of art, encourage dialogue about the role of art in public spaces, and provide artists with alternative exhibition space for their work. Artists to be featured through June 2005 are Rachel Denny, and the team of Brenda Mallory and Fei Disbrow. For more information, contact RACC at 503.823.5111.

Through vision, leadership and service the Regional Arts & Culture Council works to integrate arts and culture in all aspects of community life.
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