Magee Field appears in this month’s issue of Harper’s Magazine.
Subscribers can see the page online here.
Author Archives: Lli
Review
Interstate Bridge was reviewed by D. K. Row last week in the Oregonian‘s online and print editions. (Full review behind link.)
Interstate Bridge, Froelick Gallery, December 2007
- Interstate Bridge 1, 20076″ x 9″ on 10.25 x 15.5 papergraphite and monotype on Arpa handmade paper
- Interstate Bridge 2, 20076″ x 9″ on 10.5 x 15.5 papergraphite and monotype on Arpa handmade paper
- Interstate Bridge 3, 20075″ x 12″ on 10.25 x 15.5 papergraphite and monotype on Arpa handmade paper
- Interstate Bridge 4, 20075″ x 12″ on 10.25 x 15.5 papergraphite and monotype on Arpa handmade paper
- Interstate Bridge 5, 20075″ x 9″ on 10.25 x 15.5 papergraphite and monotype on Arpa handmade paper
- Interstate Bridge 6, 20075″ x 8″ on 10.25 x 15.5 papergraphite and monoprint on Arpa handmade paper
- Interstate Bridge 7, 20077″ (paper size 14 x 9.75)monotype on Arpa handmade paper
- Interstate Bridge 8, 20077″ (paper size 14 x 9.75)monotype on Arpa handmade paper
- Interstate Bridge Looking East, 20074.25 x 6.5ink, dye and graphite on vinci board
- Interstate Bridge Lift Cables and Walkways, 20074.25 x 6.5ink, dye and graphite on vinci board
- Interstate Bridge North Gate, 20074.25″x 10.5″ink, dye and graphite on vinci board
- Interstate Bridge Looking South, 20074.25″x 10.5″ink, dye and graphite on vinci board
- Hayden Island Bridge, 20074.25″x 10.5″ink, dye and graphite on vinci board
- Pier 99, 20074.25″ x 10.5″ink, dye and graphite on vinci board
- Interstate Bridge Violet Sky, 20074.25 x 6.5 ink, dye and graphite on vinci board
- Interstate Bridge Shadow, 20074.25 x 6.5ink, dye and graphite on vinci board
- Columbia River by I-5, 20074.25 x 6.5ink, dye and graphite on vinci board
- Interstate Bridge Underpass, 20074.25″ x 10.5″ink, dye and graphite on vinci board
In order to unify a show of work done in a variety of media, I focused on a very specific part of the Portland landscape: during my most recent visit to Portland, I spent many days walking over and around the Interstate Bridge.
On summer mornings, there’s a marked contrast between the visual and tactile experiences of walking across a bridge that is part of an interstate highway: clear skies and crisp shadows and high distant views, traffic noise and constant rough vibration underfoot.
Monoprints and graphite drawings on blue paper, largely monochromatic and low-contrast, are a venture into a different medium and also serve as studies focusing on the structural elements of the bridge. I let the resulting geometry and texture in the bridge studies suggest the color and mood of the sky and landscapes in the dye paintings.
Road Show and other summer 2007 works
- Used Car Lot, 2007Ink, dye, graphite on board. 4.25″ x 7.5″
- Marine Railroad by Niagara River, 2007Ink, dye, graphite on board. 4.25″ x 6.5″
- Construction on Burnside Bridge, 2007Ink, dye, graphite on board. 4.25″ x 7.5″
- Dependable Drive-In, 2007Ink, dye, graphite on board. 4.25″ x 6.5″
22 Nights in August, Froelick Gallery, December 2005
- McLoughlin Boulevard Viaduct, 2005 Ink, dye, graphite on board. 6.5″ x 8.5″
- Southwest Moody Avenue, 2005Ink, dye and graphite on board. 6.5″x 8.5″
- Southeast 6th and Ivon, 2005 Ink, dye, graphite on board. 6.5″ x 8.5″
- Springwater Corridor Entrance, 2005 Ink, dye and graphite on board. 6.5″x 8.5″
- Construction on Southwest Moody, 2005Ink, dye, graphite on board. 6.5″ x 8.5″
- Morrison Bridge From The Willamette, 2005Ink, dye, graphite on board. 6.5″ x 8.5″
- Pig Farm, Troutdale, 2005Acrylic, ink, and graphite on wood panel. 5″ x 7″
- North Prescott and Michigan, 2005 Acrylic, ink, and graphite on wood panel. 5″ x 7″
- Atop the Failing Pedestrian Bridge, 2005Ink, dye, graphite on board. 4.25″ x 6.5″
- Southeast Foster Road, 2005Ink, dye, graphite on board. 4.25″ x 6.5″
- Portland Fruit Company, 2005 Ink, dye, graphite on board. 4.25″ x 6.5″
- Bike Trail Under I-5, 2005Ink, dye, graphite on board. 4.25″ x 6.5″
- Drive Thru Wake Up, 2005 Ink, dye, graphite on board. 4.25″ x 6.5″
- Under the Ross Island Bridge Looking North, 2005 Acrylic, ink, and graphite on wood panel. 5″ x 7″
- Railroad Bridge, 2005 Acrylic, ink, and graphite on wood panel. 5″ x 7″
- Under the Oregon Coast Highway, 2005Acrylic, ink, and graphite on panel. 5″x 7″
- By The Noise Barrier, 2005Ink, dye, graphite on board. 4.25″ x 6.5″
- North Michigan, Looking West, 2005 Ink, dye, graphite on board. 4.25″ x 6.5″
- Marquam Bridge From Under I-5, 2005 Ink, dye, graphite on board. 4.25″ x 6.5″
- Southeast 61st and Foster, 2005 Ink, dye, graphite on board. 4.25″ x 6.5″
- Astoria By the Tracks, 2005Ink, dye, graphite on board. 4.25″ x 6.5″
- Under the Ross Island Bridge Looking South, 2005Acrylic, ink, and graphite on wood panel, 4.5″ x 9″
For the past ten years certain locations in Portland, and certain structural and natural elements in the landscape, have held my attention. During this summer I returned to several of those locations, including industrial Southeast, the unfinished ground of the south waterfront, and those corners, out in back of the new shops and restaurants, where North Portland still kisses the interstate.
In those places, massive concrete curves, streetlights and wires, rivers and their bridges, fennel and blackberry plants- elements that, though not exclusive to Portland, are emblematic of the Portland cityscape – combine with the shifts in hue and texture that mark the Northwestern night sky’s transition from summer to fall.
A third of the paintings were started on location: the rest were painted from the summer’s sketches and photographs in my Pittsburgh studio. Each morning, surrounded by images of bridges and viaducts and power lines, I watched ODOT cameras refresh the still-dark sky over I-5, and painted as the season changed in two cities, three time zones apart.