Opening Reception @ Luke's Frame Shop

I'm so stoked about the opening! Come nerd out with me and get an up-close look at Unrevealed, my latest small-scale portraits made using my Sears Citation II manual typewriter on view through September 29 at Luke's Frame Shop.  Opening Reception: Saturday, September 12, from 6-8pm. Hope to see you there!

Left to right: Erica, Patsy, Michael, Carissa.  Also, I love that faint Luke's Frame Shop logo shadow overlay...

On a more personal note, I am feeling more than sentimental as I finally begin to process some recent changes in my life. I have recently made the difficult decision to leave my position as exhibition coordinator/art assistant at ProjectGrow, a place where I have cultivated countless friendships and experiences from which I can't imagine my life without.  

It's so difficult to describe how amazing this place is--I've been connected to this art studio/gallery/urban farm here in Portland since 2011. ProjectGrow is a place where anything imaginable can happen--where creativity and authentic expression is fostered. And that sentence sounds so empty, but it's really just so hard to explain! Over the last three years, moments of my day entailed the following: while attempting to be the supportive one, uncontrollable tears surprised me as three of my motherless colleagues and I hid under our boss's jacket while we imagined our dead moms in heaven playing cards and drinking wine; I cleaned up organic chocolate syrup disguised as faux-feces from all the surfaces in the bathroom as part of a practical joke telling me I was hired; in order to distract ourselves from mundane matters at hand, I began to sing an impromptu musical and was quickly accompanied by nearly half the room, all of us singing operatically about "fourteen boys in the boarding school" and then quickly and hilariously degrading into a narrative of exactly what was happening in the room.  

I can't imagine my life without ProjectGrow, and I don't have to, because it's influenced my life drastically. The decision to leave is being made so that I can focus on my own creative practice, but I would not be here, now, if I hadn't been afforded the opportunity to experience this beautiful, hidden world.  I am forever in debt to the incredible, brilliant, and strong people I know now.

The reason I'm explaining all of this is that, just a few short weeks ago, I mentioned to Luke (the owner of Luke's Frame Shop) that several of my colleagues who might wish to attend the opening use wheelchairs.  When he explained that there wasn't an accessible entrance, he went ahead and built a ramp so that all of the people I care about could attend.  I guess this post is making it sound like I get ambushed by tears often, but I am very fortunate to be surrounded by so many awesome, caring people, and I couldn't help but be overwhelmed by this act of kindness.  Luke's has been my favorite frame shop, and I'd already respected his team and business immensely, but this really takes the cake. Endless gratitude.

Wheelchair accessible ramp built by the team at Luke's Frame Shop--see it in action tomorrow, Saturday, September 12.

See you tomorrow!

In Progress - Kierre

I'm working on one of my last drawings for Unrevealed, which will be on view at Luke's Frame Shop from September 3 - 29. This piece consists of the following characters: @, #, ', %, o, ", *, and +.

Kierre, in progress typewriter drawing on Rives BFK

I am having so much fun drawing.  It's funny, if I were trying to make this image with traditional drawing media like graphite or charcoal, I would become so frustrated because it would become too time consuming, because I would pile on the material too quickly.  Typing, in a perhaps counterintuitive way, helps me work faster because it forces me to be more patient, challenging my heavy hand.  Since I have to treat it more preciously, I don't use a ton of time erasing and therefore redoing.

Come celebrate with me during the reception on Saturday, September 12, from 6-8pm.

In Progress - Patsy

detail, Patsy, 2015, typewriter drawing on Rives BFK

This is a portrait of an incredible woman I've known for several years.  She is beyond sweet, the queen of pet-names, brilliant, kind, and possesses a kind of wisdom I've never encountered before.  Her face is such a wonderful landscape to traverse with my typewriter.  Patsy is part of my series Unrevealed, which will be on view September 3 - 29 at Luke's Frame Shop (2707 SE Belmont, PDX, OR). 

Opening Reception for Unrevealed: Typewriter Drawings By Rachel Mulder

Saturday, September 12, 2015

6-8pm

I can't wait to hang this show--it is such an honor to show these works on paper at my favorite framing biz, Luke's Frame Shop. The opening also coincides with the Belmont Street Fair, so it should be a blast--but if you need a reprieve from the party outside, we'll be there to soothe you with wine and cheese.

Hope to see you there!

Upcoming Exhibition: Unrevealed at Luke's Frame Shop

I'm thrilled to announce that my latest small-scale typewriter drawings will be on view at Luke's Frame Shop, my favorite local frame shop + art gallery from September 3 - September 29, 2015. I was fortunate enough to show the first incarnation of this series in my hometown, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, earlier this summer, and I'm very pleased I have the next twenty days to crank out some new drawings especially for this exhibition. Carpal tunnel, here I come.

Please mark your calendars for Saturday, September 12 and join me from 6-8pm during the opening reception, which delightfully coincides with the Belmont Street Fair. Hope to see you there!

Cyan, 2015
typewritten ink on paper, 8 x 10 1/4 inches
$200

Jamond, 2015
typewritten ink on paper
8 1/4 x 12 inches
$200

Michael, 2015
typewritten ink on paper
8 1/4 x 13 inches
 $200

Michelle, 2015
typewritten ink on paper, 8 x 10 3/8 inches
$200

Self Portrait, 2015
typewritten ink on paper, 7 1/4 x 12 inches
$200

About:

In this series of portraits the subject's identity is obscured either by natural visual distortion or by the purposeful withholding of certain features, a result of my fascination with the way in which facial features can mutate into erratic and confusing landscapes. As my heavy handed drawing techniques in traditional media and linework urge cartoonish renderings, the sense of veracity that comes with portraiture was elusive.

Using my Sears Citation II manual typewriter as a drawing tool and a photograph of the subject as a framework, I challenged my instinct to rely on caricature but also found myself resistant to the ideals of traditional portraiture. Rather than seeking and depicting a blank truth, where facial features and body parts appear as expected, I was compelled to complete an exercise in neglecting the firmly cemented visual images in my head. Navigating through this imagery using this cumbersome yet delicate drawing tool within the delineated contours of the photographs allowed me to scatter my focus, working in one compartment at a time and allowing the images to form like sediment collecting, a slow build of overlapping marks and feeds through the typewriter until each was complete. Focusing solely on the difference in values and angles and not the expectations of visual truth, I was led back to the fundamental task of drawing what’s there.