Every picture tells a story, as the saying goes, yet throughout history, the narrator has been overwhelmingly male, especially in academic settings. From the Renaissance onward, that began to change, although well into the early 19th century, the only woman in some classrooms was the nude female model. However, through their own fortitude and aided by individuals and institutions acknowledging these and other historical disparities, female artists have flourished, choosing whether or not and how much to emphasize the female vantage point.
A new exhibit continuing through June 27 at Spokane’s Chase Gallery does just that, but not only that. “Portraits from Within; 4 Emerging Spokane Artists” features the unique perspective of four young women, ages 22 to 30, all graduates of rigorous college art programs within the past couple of years and all with strong ties to the Spokane area.
All four artists are also making work in a similar vein, explains exhibition curator and Spokane Arts Commissioner Kelly Baker.
“While they are not exclusively portrait artists, they all do versions of portraiture and storytelling about themselves or [other] people that I find really interesting and quite different,” Baker says.
A recent Eastern Washington University graduate who also spent six months as an artist-in-residence at the Spokane Public Library’s The Hive, Lily Henderson crafts meticulously detailed dioramas, then photographs the little scenes she creates.
There is a lamb in a darkened room looking up at a lantern. A woman lying on the floor, seemingly passed out and surrounded by bottles of sugary drinks. A photo of a diorama titled “Show Me on the Bear,” which is what a therapist or assault counselor might ask of a young child after they’ve been hurt.
They’re evocative, Baker says.
Art courtesy Emily Flynn Delay
“Plastic Bag Pretty” by Emily Flynn-DeLay.
“I love how she’s using these childish and childlike images and concepts to talk about her own personal memories and also the concept of moving from childhood to adulthood.”
One of Baker’s friends introduced her to paintings by Emily Flynn-DeLay, a University of Montana graduate and recent Spokane transplant who included both painting and sculpture in the Chase show.
For “The NAME Series,” Flynn-DeLay comes up with a title for the yet-to-be-finished work, such as “Just Because It’s True Doesn’t Make It Not Mean,” then paints her model’s interpretation of the title for a unique collaborative twist. Flynn-Delay’s “Trauma,” which deals with sexual assault, is one of two life-size and lifelike sculptural installations in the exhibit, and easily one of the most conceptually and visually compelling.
Elsa Oxford, like Baker, is a Lewis and Clark High School alum, although Oxford moved to the west side to attend the University of Washington before relocating back to Spokane.
Her paintings are vibrantly colored snapshots of everyday life with titles like “Brother and Sister, Ritz-Like Crackers” and “Dad at Lucky’s Pho.”
Baker describes the work as “very modern and an intimate feeling.”
Photo Courtesy Carly Ellis
“Push” by Carly Ellis.
Carly Ellis is the fourth artist in the Chase exhibition and, like Baker, has a photography background, although she also paints and does graphic design.
“I just loved hearing [Carly’s] process, experimentation and what she came up with, and it’s this kind of blowing up a portrait and a visual and then putting it back together again,” Baker explains.
Ellis’ work ranges from photo manipulation to photo “weavings,” which emulate the warp and weft of a traditionally interlaced tapestry. Pieces like “I See You” and “Looking” are more three-dimensional, however, approaching kinetic sculpture.
Although Ellis exhibited similar photo weavings while an undergraduate at Eastern Washington University, her new work is more feminine, she says.
“It embraces the common shared experience of womanhood,” Ellis says.
Shared experiences are important to Ellis, who, like Henderson, was an artist-in-residence at The Hive through EWU’s Emerging Artist Program (she and Henderson were studio mates).
One of the biggest benefits of being at The Hive, Ellis says, was the connection with the other artists there. “So it’s all just like creatively feeding and growing off of each other,” she says. “And the open studios were really great just to meet other artists, and that’s how I got to meet Kelly and get this opportunity.”
In addition to The Hive, Ellis is big on other opportunities in Spokane, including Spokane Arts, for which she completed an asphalt art mural last year in the Browne’s Addition neighborhood at the intersection of Third and Elm.
“They really take a chance on emerging artists, which is so important for uplifting those entry-level artists,” she says.
Ellis is also appreciative of the way she was both surrounded by talented artists and teachers at Eastern, and the way it pushed her to expect more from herself.
“I don’t think [art] school is necessary but Eastern was necessary for me,” she says. “It really heightened my art career. I’m not sure that I would have been able to call myself an artist without it.” ♦
Portraits from Within: 4 Emerging Spokane Artists • Through June 27; open Mon-Fri from 8 am-5 pm • First Friday reception: June 6 from 5-7:30 pm • Free • Chase Gallery • 808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. • spokanearts.org • 509-321-9614
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