• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Veronica Reeves

painting the post-natural

  • Paintings
  • Collage
  • Bio
  • News
  • Contact

News

Presences: Paintings by Veronica Reeves at The Joinery, Portland, Oregon, USA

2018-07-05 by V2R2 Leave a Comment

 

Presences: Paintings by Veronica Reeves

Reception: Aug. 9, 6-8 pm, 2018

The Joinery

922 SW Yamhill St, Portland, OR 97205

Hours: Monday – Saturday 10-6, Sunday 11-5

Free and open to the public.

In paintings in the traditions of surrealism and abstract expressionism, Veronica Reeves examines the way consciousness exists in layers of emotion, thought, domestic spaces, digital spaces, and wild spaces, questioning the construct of separation. Reeves’s paintings depict figures interacting with landscapes that seem familiar but are unrecognizable, absurd, and dreamlike. Through saturated colors, inverted colors, juxtaposing hard edges with spills, brushwork, and spray paint, Reeves creates visuals of an imaginal realm that reflects our world.

Reeves received her MFA from Pacific Northwest College of Art in 2015 and her BFA from Colorado University at Denver in 2008. She has shown her work nationally and internationally including New York City, Portland (Oregon), Denver, Seattle, Tokyo, and Berlin. Outside of her studio practice, Reeves co-organizes and art shows with Dispersal Collective and Danma vs. V2R2, an artist collaborative. Reeves has had residencies with Signal Fire Arts, Rainmaker Artist Residency, Leland Ironworks, and co-directed Next Gallery in Denver, an artist cooperative gallery. She was an artist-in-residence at Otto Petersen Elementary school during which she co-coordinated a permanent tile-mural project in collaboration with students and staff.

I am interested in the ways in which we create ourselves in relationship to our environment with particular regard to the way we interact with the Earth directly versus the intermediaries that technology and industry become. Painting connects me to an ancient lineage of observation and intuition. By incorporating abstraction, I invite the viewer to invoke the matrix of imagination while at the same time dampening limitations on the identity of figures and landscape.

Artist, Veronica Reeves, Ex Nihilo, abstract expressionism, surrealism, painting, portland, oregon,
Veronica Reeves, Ex Nihilo, 2018, oil, acrylic, and Flashe on canvas, 40″ x 40″

Filed Under: Art Shows Tagged With: abstract expressionism, art, Artist, consciousness, contemporary art, negative dialectic, neo-surrealist, Oregon, pacific northwest, Portland, surrealism, Veronica Reeves

Inaugural Page Space alumni art showcase at PNCA

2017-09-12 by V2R2 Leave a Comment

I am happy to announce that I have a piece on view in Unlimited, an alumni art showcase at Pacific Northwest College of Art. PAGE Space (or the PNCA Alumni Gallery & Exhibition Space) is a dedicated place for the PNCA Alumni community to show their work on the PNCA campus. This salon style show includes work from 85 alumni and will be on view until Nov. 5th. The opening was on Sept. 7th, and I was pleased to see work from students who graduated decades ago, as well as most recent grads. I enjoyed a wonderful intermingling of old and new faces, and the entertainment of matching people up with their work.

PAGE Space is a curatorial project brought together by alumni Lauren Stumpf and Jessie Speiss Werner. Preceding their proposal for this project, there wasn’t a dedicated space for showing alumni work on campus. PNCA has a rich cast of characters among its alumni, along with rising stars who recently graduated. I’m looking forward to the future alumni shows as they will likely develop to be more complex and interesting.

Unlimited at PAGE Space

511 Building – Arlene and Harold Schnitzer Center for Art and Design
BridgeLab
511 NW Broadway
Portland, Oregon, 97209

Free and open to the public.pagespace

Filed Under: Art Shows Tagged With: alumni, art show, Artist, mfa program, Oregon, pacific northwest college of art, pagespace, PDX, PNCA, Portland, west coast art

In the news!

2017-06-29 by V2R2 Leave a Comment

Otto Petersen Elementary Mural with artist Veronica Reeves
Otto Petersen Elementary Mural Dedication
The students who contributed to the overall design of the mural and helped us unveil it!
Scappoose Band Mentors at Otto Petersen Art Night 2017
Scappoose Band Mentors at Otto Petersen Art Night 2017
A pop up, collaborative project! Art Show attendees were invited to work on a small “collaborative mural” together.
Otto Petersen Elementary Mural with artist Veronica Reeves
Artist Veronica Reeves

The Otto Petersen collaborative public mural is finally installed and dedicated. We officially unveiled the mural on June 21st, 2017, surrounded by friends, supporters, students and their parents, and community leaders. Kelly Powell, a previous principal of Otto Petersen, started out the dedication with praising the power of community involvement. Outgoing principal Whitney Hessong finished up with a long list of well deserved thank yous. We called up the 14 students who contributed designs to the mural and in ensemble, -this was my favorite part, they ripped the paper off the mural to the cheering of the crowd that spilled out into the street. This was after all the attendees had meandered through the building to see over 1200 pieces of student art, a student produced puppet show, and the performance of the scappoose Band Mentorship program including students from Otto Petersen Elementary, Scappoose Middle School, and Scappoose High School. What a wonderful night, a wonderful end to an arduous 7 month art venture, and a great beginning to what I hope will mean more public art projects in my future!

http://www.pamplinmedia.com/scs/83-news/363334-243439-otto-petersen-mural-reflects-community-spirit

http://portlandtribune.com/scs/83-news/364025-244640-art-for-all

#ottopetersenmural

#elementaryschoolart

Art Night at Otto Petersen Elementary

 

Filed Under: Arts Education, Uncategorized Tagged With: art, Art Night, Artist, Columbia County, local, mural, Oregon, Otto Petersen Elementary, Portland, rainmaker, Scappoose, verge pdx, Veronica Reeves

Art Night at Otto Petersen Elementary

2017-06-10 by V2R2 2 Comments

June 21st, 2017 at 6pm – 8pm, Otto Petersen Elementary will be hosting a school wide student art show, bake sale, and unveiling of the collaborative student tile mural recently installed at the school’s entrance. This evening will

Artists Jennifer Hanson and Veronica Reeves in front of the Otto Petersen Elementary Mural to be unveiled June 21st, 2017
Artists Jennifer Hanson and Veronica Reeves in front of the Otto Petersen Elementary Mural to be unveiled June 21st, 2017

include 1,000 pieces of student art from a variety of media, musical performances by Otto Petersen students in coordination with the Band Mentors program led by Debbit Wheeler, and a bake sale fundraiser. The Otto Petersen Parents Organization (OPPO) supports special events and projects like this to bring opportunities to the students that they would otherwise go without, including the parent volunteer powered Art Literacy program. This year is the “Year of Art” for Otto Petersen Elementary, led by an arts committee who developed ideas that result in the new mural project, visiting local artists, and the student art show.

Local artists Jennifer Hanson and Veronica Reeves developed and guided the mural project that consists of 570 6” tiles. Together, they introduced the mural project to the students by requesting student design proposals. Hanson and Reeves stressed the theme of community and collaboration during the mural making process, which required students, teachers, and staff to work together in creating this representation of the Otto Petersen Elementary and Scappoose community spirit. Please join us in supporting the creative accomplishments of the students and community of Otto Petersen Elementary! More information about the progress and process of the mural project is also available here.

Special thanks go out to the contributors, donors, and project partners for the mural:

The Otto Petersen Parents Organization, Jennifer Hanson, Veronica Reeves, FinishLine Graphics, Geneva Flooring, Willamette Print & Blue Printing, Cindy Dietz, Whitney Hessong, Dan & Jennifer Nelson, Cal Portland Santosh, Fultano’s Pizza, Grace Christian Children’s Center, Ixtapa, Jackpot Market, Mossbarger, Pizza Vendor, Precision Engraving, Tinkertime Preschool, Sunsations Tanning & Boutique

 

Filed Under: Arts Education Tagged With: #magicinscappoose, #ottopetersenmural, Art Night, elementary school art, Jennifer Hanson, mural project, Oregon, Otto Petersen Elementary, Scappoose, Veronica Reeves

What a mural project teaches us!

2017-04-12 by V2R2 Leave a Comment

The 4th, 5th, and 6th grade students at Otto Petersen Elementary school in Scappoose, OR collaborated on a community mural which is slated to be officially presented to the public on June 21st, 2017! The mural contains 9 owls, a raccoon family, earthworms, canines, a rabbit, a mouse, a horse, bats, and even a Pegasus. This mural of 570 tiles, 6″ squares, represents efforts from students and artists Jennifer Hanson and Veronica Reeves (myself), who guided this project.

The students, teachers, and other members of the Otto Petersen Elementary community all shared in the experience of collaborating in an intention to enhance their community and their neighborhood. I hope there are many more projects like this in the near future for Scappoose!

While the broad goal of the mural project was an art experience that resulted in an aesthetic fixture for the school, let me tell you what students (and maybe even adults) learned along the way!

At the very start, we asked students to submit designs via a call for mural design proposals. This introduces students to what professional artists experience when looking for opportunities, along with some other professional vocabulary such as:

Materials, Media, Mural, Ceramic, Collage, Concept, Submit, Proposal, Landscape, Multi-media, Texture, Line, Contrast, Dimensions, Proportional…

and Collaborative!!!

We discussed the definition of collaborative and then, we experienced it! Except in a few cases, participants had to work together, lining up their tiles to make sure the image was coming across just right. This was why it was very important to start out by sketching in pencil first. Sometimes the sketches did not line up so I would ask the students how they wanted to fix that, which they were able to do. Sometimes students would place their tile in the spot on the mural and compare it to the tiles around it and decide they wanted to alter the color or add more details.

An in-progress shot of the mural. Some of these tiles are the printed ceramic finals and others are the multi-media originals. We used a big, gridded, and numbered tarp to keep track of the placement, with numbers on back of the tiles too.
Students working together on a group of tiles to make sure they line up correctly!
Flying owl in progress!
Otto Petersen Elementary students are hard working artists!
Don’t forget mice for the owls to hunt!
Teachers and staff are hard working artists too!

These are some of the important lessons learned during collaboration:

  • working in a group means being flexible (finding ways to compromise, trying new things)
  • working toward a similar goal that includes everyone (allowing for differences)
  • doing your part for the greater good of the whole (every tile represents an individual’s participation)
  • being considerate of others (the importance of encouragement)
  • problem solving is easier with a positive attitude (pencil is erasable, we can paint over that, try again, make it work)
  • taking your turn as a leader and a listener

Because this is a public mural it is important to consider the participation and collaboration as members of a community. The most specific, main goal was for this mural to represent the Otto Petersen Elementary school community. This is why Jennifer and I were very careful in how much guidance and structure we offered. We asked students to consider their identities as a part of this community during the design process, and they came through with fantastic observations of their/our community. In the submissions for mural designs, students conveyed these cultconcepts:

  • other life in our community (animals, plants, trees, flowers, insects, invertebrates)
  • architecture (barns, the school)
  • landscape (Mount St. Helens, Mt. Adams, Mt. Hood, farmland, fields, forest)
  • monument (Scappoose Peace Candle of the World)
  • planetary view (clouds, moon, stars, atmospheric qualities)
  • personal expectations and education (report cards, graduation hats, books of learning)
    This design included a lot of landmarks relevant to our community.
    This design included examples of other living things and architecture relevant to our community.
    Final design for Otto Peteren Elementary collaborative mural project 2017!
    A common sight in our county! The iconic red barn and horse in a verdant pasture.
    Thank you bees for helping our food grow! You are a part of our community and our mural!
    These canines are a student’s interpretation of her dad’s police dog and puppy.
    A nest of squirrels, of course!

Here is a list of techniques and materials that students experimented with in the art laboratory:

  • Painting – tempera paint, watercolor, oil pastel
  • Drawing – colored pencil, pastel, crayon, marker
  • Collage – textiles, handmade paper, yarn, beads, glitter glue, moss, feathers, magazine, plastic grass, felt, crepe paper, and more…

I wanted to know how the students felt about art, so I interviewed some students about their experience with art while they were working on the multi-media tiles.

Q&A

What is art?

What does art do differently?

Why do you like art?

“Art is enjoyable because you get to take your mind and throw it out on the paper.”

“It’s fun. I like to do it. I like to draw.”

“It’s really how people can express how they feel. Every color has meaning. There’s no right or wrong answer.”

“I like art because it is a way to express your feelings.”

“Art is like a way to help you through tough times.”                     “I can put down on paper what I like and I like to do.”

“It’s fun to do. You can do whatever you want with art!”

“Art is adventure.”

“It’s vibrant, colorful, cheery!”

“Art is the only way I can express my emotions and feel what I want to feel.”

“It’s something people do for fun. It doesn’t have to be perfect. You can be good at it. Art is never wrong.”

“I don’t know why I like art. Maybe you don’t have to know why.”

“[Art is] a place you can let your emotions out. It’s yours and nobody else’s.”

“[Art is] something you can do whenever.”

“Art is more fun. It’s not boring.”

“I want a piece of tile on the wall forever.”

“Art is something for people to get their emotions out.”

“I like making up my own people. I like mixing colors. It started when I was real young and I thought it was real pretty.”

“It’s a way to put things on paper to show your love for others.”

“I like working in different materials.”

“Because you don’t really have to think and you can’t ever go wrong.”

“Art is different from other subjects because you can do whatever.”

“Expressing your feelings with no instructions and no one can tell you what to do.”

“Art is fun!”

 

Filed Under: Art Work Tagged With: art, art appreciation, art lesson, Artist, Columbia County, community, culture, elementary school mural, history, ideas, Jennifer Hanson, mural artist, Oregon, Otto Petersen Elementary, public art, Scappoose, tile mural, Veronica Reeves, what students learn from a mural project

Otto Petersen Elementary Mural Update

2017-04-11 by V2R2 1 Comment

We have received almost all our tiles back from FinishLine Graphics and are seeking a tile contractor to perform the installation on an exterior wall! If you know a professional who may be interested, please let me know! This will go on the north facing exterior wall at Otto Petersen Elementary School, the opposite side of the bike racks. It will be an engaging visual when you approach the school with different layers of enjoyment. From a distance, you see the landscape, the animals, the school, barns, Scappoose Peace Candle, trees, and mountains. As you get closer to the mural, you see more and more detail. You see brush strokes, textures like yarn, textiles, sequins, glitter, pastels, and you see unique qualities in the treatment of each tile. You can see how each student, teacher, staff member, volunteer, or community member who took part responded to the mural design with their unique decisions. Mural collaborators worked on 6″ paper squares in different media of their choosing, then these tiles were digitally scanned and printed to ceramic tiles with a heat press. This is called a sublimation ink transfer process. Here is a video that explains how it works!

Printed tiles are on the left, originals are on the right.
The printed tile in my hand captures the dimension of the beads glued to the original made by a student.

I’m so blessed to have been a part of this process! My hope and intention for this mural is that it radiates happiness, curiosity, and wonder into the community that helped create it.

Most recent picture of the tile mural! We are just waiting on a couple more tiles! Here is a gallery of detail shots:

Filed Under: Art Work Tagged With: art appreciation, art project, Artist, city beautification, collaborative, community, elementary, elementary school art, finishline graphics, mural, Oregon, Otto Petersen Elementary, Scappoose, school mural, tile mural, usa, Veronica Reeves

« Previous Page
Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

nebula homes
Veronica Reeves, Remembering the Way Home, 2016, acrylic and flashe on canvas, 24" x 60"
Mystery, Death, Compost
Reeves working at Leland Iron Works
Reeves working at Leland Iron Works
Veronica Reeves, Lets Taste the Future Together, 2015, acrylic, oil, and spraypaint on linen, 40"x46"
light & gravity