On our way away from the Westcoast we spent some time in Portland Oregon. I always knew it was a place of greatness but I guess I didn't know just how great! First we stopped at the filmmaker
Vanessa Renwick's (pictured here in her sweetly patch covered jacket!) in what I think is called the Mississippi part of Portland. I can't begin to describe her house other than it is a dream; a tree to climb into bed, a basement studio brimming with work, an indoor trapeze/dog toy and the recent addition of an outdoor handmade sauna in the shape of a totem style raven's head! What?!? We spent the afternoon checking out some of her recent film exploits which were absolutely gorgeous and really true to the aesthetic & issues of the area-
televisions depicting wolf hunts embedded inside refrigerators, the gruesome craft of the hunt next the passive human hunt, referencing our place in the natural world and the ways we've lost touch with it (a common theme I think is in a lot of Vanessa's work). Another piece,
Trojan, must be seen to be loved...I can't do it justice in words!
After some tea drinking we headed to a local grocery store to see
this exhibit (pictured above)..yeah, that's right, a gallery show IN a
grocery store! I can't imagine a more perfectly synaesthetic experience! So much nature, art, animation, film and everything else coming out of this super-natural city! I really hope we get to bring
Gravity to Portland at some point but, until then, I can at least keep up on how kick ass it is through all the wonderful
work coming out of it!
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