I write this introduction from Austin, Texas, where I have been living just over a year for graduate school. However, I still see Portland, Oregon as my artistic home base, my favorite art scene, the city of my creative peers.
The greater Portland art scene is a community — one always adding new members as artists move to the city and emerging artists graduate from one of its art degree-granting institutions. One of this issue’s artists, Angela Maree Saenz, graduated this past spring from the Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA). Saenz joins us with a strong artistic identity in her paintings and prints about family and relationships. I personally find myself captivated in the small details of each scene.
Collage artist Marilyn Joyce creates ethereal place-inspired compositions. Joyce spent several weeks this past summer in Southern Oregon at the renowned PLAYA residency program, and the new work in this issue reflects that gift of time and space.
Our third artist, Riis Griffen, focuses on animal characters in her collage work. With names like Samuel, Clive, and Zoe, her creations feel like old friends. There is personality, humor, and pathos in her group of anthropomorphized misfits, cleverly executed with torn paper and found ephemera.
For VoiceCatcher’s publication twice a year, I revel in discovering new artists who either call Stumptown home or have been significantly impacted from time in the area. I’m happy I got to know three this season.
Sarah Fagan
Art Editor