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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 15, 2002)
1V2ÛÛ2* n R T ........▼........ C lay artist Jen Wtxxly celebrates ordinary people— so much so that she’s made them all trophies. “I was thinking about the everyday person and the trophy for surviving everyday life. T h a t’s where the scale and the general for mat of what I do comes from,’’ she explains. Woody’s clay figurines, featured at Gallery Schmallery through Dec. 3, are like frozen moments from the life of someone you’d see on the bus or at a family reunion. They’re not glamorous, yet somehow they’re elegant— like a person who walks into a party and suddenly all eyes are on her. It’s not so much whether she’s pretty— it’s the way she carries herself in her Kxly, the comfortable way she takes up space. “People are really captivated by them ,” WcxxJy says. “They say, ‘O h this looks like my U ncle Bob.’ ” Lael Easton o f Gallery Schm allery agrees. “Her people are so real. You feel like you’re see ing your grandpa.” Easton says Wtxxly has a great sense of detail and whimsy and obviously loves creating these little people. T he artist’s last show had tine of the best responses the gallery has ever seen. Many of Woody's figures relate in pairs or groups with a central element tying them together. In “Encircled,” two older women sit engrossed in conversation, the matching texture of their dresses drawing them closer together, creating a circle. Wtxxly said she spent a lot of time last spring hunting thrift stores for the weirdest textures she could find. “Betty Bubbles’ ” dress is made of a mold from bubble wrap. Another character wears a sweater cast from a woven tablecloth. In “Windblown," three lean figures, arms in the air, sway like trees in ? storm, their torsos rem iniscent of birch bark. “I wanted to convey that Tíre Imperiai Sovereign 0{ose Court and Miss Qay Oregon X X V lII SlCycia (Day invites one and a it to SASIH (BASiX 2002 All Net Proceeds to Benefit "Our House of Portland" To be held at Darcelle XV 208 N W 3rd Avenue November 20, 2002 Door at 7[>m * Show at 8 pm $S Donation Everyday people by K Jen Woody sculpts figures who could he y o u r mom ath y B elg e Jen Woody and a couple of little ladies at her Gallery' Schm allery opening feeling of being windblown, like you can’t control the elements around you— being at the mercy of events that you can’t change," Woody explains. The figures are, she adds, “ambiguous, gender- wise and racially. A lot of my women end up look ing kind of drag-queeny. A lot of times 1 make someone who I would say is a woman, and the general take from the public is that it’s a man.” O ne of her customers this year was a lesbian T H E MARK OF SIMPLICITY. The Dignity Memorial™ mark signifies answers. Planning that prepares, so questions aren't left unanswered. Its a symbol of trust, superior quality standards, and attentive care in the funeral, cremation and cemetery profession. With membership by invitation only, Dignity Memorial is the world's largest network of funeral and crem atio n providers and signifies a higher level of funeral care. Service Beyond Expectation Funeral & Cremation Services Caldw ell's Colonial Chapel 20 NE 14th Ave. • Portland, OR 97232 503-232-4111 Ross Hollywood Chapel who bought two of the most androgynous sculptures. “She was very appreciative of that.” rowing up in C onnecticut, Woody was always interested in the arts. Although her major at William Sm ith College in New York state was geoscience, she found herself spending a lot of time at the clay studio, even tually helping run it and teaching lessons to Cemetery Sunnyside Chimes Memorial Gardens 11667 SE Stevens Rd. • Portland, OR 97266 503-659-1184 www.dignitymemorial.com C lay figures by J en WOODY are on display through D ec. 3 at G allery Schm allery, 2132 S .E . Division St. She is also featu red in the fall issue o f the art m agazine Wordsmith Collection. Garden Center Pond Supplies Grow Lights Seed Starting Kits Organic Nutrients 519 SE MAIN 4733 NE Thompson • Portland, OR 97213 503-281-1800 other students. A fter a few years, she left school to apprentice in pottery at the Rochester Folk A rt Guild. Woody describes the guild as a commune with potters, glass blowers, furniture builders, weavers and a sheep farm. She worked to pay her room and board. “1 did all the grunt work in pottery, like mixing clay, loading kilns, making glazes.” She developed her skills spending many hours churning out pots. After about six months, she returned to school to finish her degree. Upon graduation, Woody searched national ly for pottery jobs. She picked Portland over Arkansas and Tennessee, working five years as a production thrower (forming pots on the wheel) for another potter, further honing her skills. T h e 29-year-old started her own business in 1997 and sold pottery at Portland Saturday Market until just last month, stopping to focus more on clay art and less on pottery. “It’s taken me a while to com e to a place in my clay work where I feel like my work is really authentic and true to myself. T h e pots were so influenced by working for other people,” she shares. Now Woody makes half her living as an artist and the other half as a gardener. She lives with her partner o f seven years in a Northeast Portland house, where she will soon move her studio. To Woody, art is part of everyday life for everyday people. “O ne of my idealist things is that I feel like art should be accessible. I don’t feel like it’s a luxury. I think our society treats it like a luxury, but I think its pretty essential.” J H Portland, OS : m mm m .^ fapom csjcrdetm Ruppcrt Blaize and the Swingline Cubs Danceable Concert Friday Nov. 22 8pm at First Unitarian Church Sway to the Caribbean influenced sounds of Ruppcrt Biaize and the Swingline Cubs Tickets available through Fastixx 5 0 3 -2 2 4 -T IX X $ 1 0 * service charge $ 12 at the door Doors open at 7 :15pm Dessert to follow the concert The concert will benefit the Unitarian church choir tour to Cuba First Unitarian Church Portland 1211 SW Mam Street, Portland O R r
