OPENING RECEPTION
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1st, 2023
5-8 PM

ON VIEW
DECEMBER 1 - 30, 2023

FOR INQUIRIES
Please contact hello@chefasprojects.com

Flexible installment plans are available upon request

This December in Gallery 2, Chefas Project hosts Looking & Seeing, a group exhibition featuring new work by Brianna Spencer, Erik Railton, Lori Damiano, and Violet Aveline, curated by artists Nathan McKee and Ryan Bubnis. Tightly connected through the independent arts and DIY community, each artist also makes up part of the local skateboarding scene. Their work consciously expands upon McKee and Bubnis’s concurrent exhibition In Plain Sight in Gallery 1, which invites viewers to look more closely and intently at the everyday things and scenes that we take for granted.

With the artists' shared background in skateboarding comes “skate eyes,” a shift in perspective that allows one to see the world differently. This unique perspective—which is n​ot far removed from that of a painter or photographer--discovers inspiration and potential anywhere and everywhere. A color palette or enticing shapes can be found while hiking in the woods or sitting around a fire pit in the yard, reaping new life and beauty out of the familiar or even the mundane. Viewers come along for the ride and experience "skate eyes" of their own, similarly taking on a different perspective.

The opening reception for Looking & Seeing will be held at Chefas Projects on Friday, December 1, 2023 from 5-8pm. Chefas Projects is located in Portland, Oregon at 134 SE Taylor Street on the first floor of the Taylor Works building. The exhibition will be on view through December 30, 2023 and is free and open to the public.

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Originally from San Diego, California, Brianna Spencer’s work draws upon California culture, street art, and folk traditions to execute her illustrative style. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally. Spencer currently lives and works in Portland, Oregon.

Erik Railton is a self taught painter currently living and working in Portland, Oregon. In his formative years on the Oregon coast, he found himself spending most of his time outdoors. The color, texture and shapes of what he sees in the natural world were influences in his paintings. The imagery of his paintings lives in the space between abstract and representational with bold and graphic colors. Through shifts in color ranges of contrasting colors Railton creates something familiar and at once beautiful. His work has been shown extensively in Portland, Seattle, and San Francisco.

Lori Damiano is an independent animator and illustrator based in Portland, Oregon. She works and plays in the realms of animation, illustration, murals, surface design, advertising, packaging, apparel, film-making, fine art, fiber art, and education. Damiano served as the Animation Department Chair at the California State Summer School for the Arts for 9 years, and has taught animation at the Pacific Northwest College of Art for 10 years.

Violet Aveline received her BFA from the Herron School of Art in Indianapolis with a focus on printmaking, sculpture, and painting. Recently, Aveline earned a degree from CareerFoundry in Berlin, Germany specializing in UI design and animation. She currently lives and works in Portland, Oregon.

ARTWORK