Michelle Grabner and Anne Crumpacker

“Gingham | Ensō”
Upfor Gallery, Portland, Oregon
Through January 27

What the Gallery Says: “Since the 1990s, Grabner has used domestic fabrics as source material for painting, printmaking and sculpture, questioning the opposition between fine art and craft. Grabner favors crochet and gingham patterns from which she can create abstractions that are recognizable and familiar….

Anne Crumpacker’s Ensō works flow from long traditions of using bamboo in Japanese art and crafts. Crumpacker, who received her Masters in Fine Arts from the Pacific Northwest College of Art, uses different widths of crosscut bamboo to form sculptural representations of the ensō (円相), a Japanese word meaning ‘circle’ and a concept strongly associated with Zen.”

Why It’s Worth a Look: Both artists masterfully deploy simple materials—burlap, gingham, and bamboo—to trance-like effect.

What It Looks Like:

Installation view of “Gingham | Ensō” at Upfor, featuring paintings by Michelle Grabner and bamboo sculptures by Anne Crumpacker. Photo by Mario Gallucci, courtesy Upfor Gallery.

Untitled works by Michelle Grabner, 2017. Photo by Mario Gallucci, courtesy of Upfor Gallery.

Detail of untitled works by Michelle Grabner (2017). Photo by Mario Gallucci, courtesy of Upfor Gallery.

“Gingham | Ensō” at Upfor, featuring paintings by Michelle Grabner and bamboo sculptures by Anne Crumpacker. Photo by Mario Gallucci, courtesy of Upfor Gallery.

Ensō – Finish in Beauty by Anne Crumpacker, 2017. Photo by Mario Gallucci, courtesy of Upfor Gallery.

Ensō – Shimmering Substance by Anne Crumpacker (2015). Photo by Mario Gallucci, courtesy of Upfor Gallery.

Installation view of “Gingham | Ensō” at Upfor, featuring paintings by Michelle Grabner and bamboo sculptures by Anne Crumpacker. Photo by Mario Gallucci, courtesy Upfor Gallery.