The gallery and the artist
Sam Montaña
Portland-based artist Sam Montaña’s exhibit ‘Water and Wood’ runs through April 5 at Sou’wester Lodge’s Art Trailer Gallery.
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Enhancing the conversation
Montaña’s exhibit includes several pho-
tos depicting refl ections in ice that merge
“above and below the icy surface in soft
focus,” he said.
The geometrics of ice that etch their way
into the fl at plane, he said, are “echoed in
the planes of the sculptures,” crafted from
walnut.
Many of the sculptures have gone
through a spalling process, where fungus
grows into the grain of the wood.
“Below the surface are the waves of
grain, ongoing rot and the insects returning
the wood to soil,” Montaña said.
Although there is a disparate quality
to the show—“sculpture and photographs
don’t interrelate naturally,” Montaña said—
Art Cards
Stationary
Jewelry
Ceramics
he believes “there is a conversation there.”
“What’s engaging about the exhibit is to
see the quality of the pieces,” Rosenbaum
said.
Because some of the water showcased
in the photos is frozen, the photos are able
to mimic the grooves of the wooden pieces,
Rosenbaum said. Despite their differences,
the two elements combine to showcase sim-
ilar color palettes and textures.
Montaña visited the gallery, situated in a
renovated 1960s Aloha trailer, several times
last year, trying to conceptualize what sort
of project would fi t best the environment.
Ultimately, Montaña decided to organize
a traditional show, which challenged him to
approach his own creations in a more pro-
fessional and intentional manner—a chal-
lenge he was compelled to undertake as the
next step in his artistic journey.
“It’s very different when you start think-
ing of that space as something you are
going to inhabit,” he said, adding the per-
ceptual shift from being “the observer to
being the author” caused him to relate to the
space in a unique way.
Considering the size of the trailer, Mon-
taña was initially “intimidated by how
much you have to self-select.”
Deciding what not to include in the
exhibit was a challenge, but doing so infl u-
enced a new level of self-realization and
growth for Montaña.
The work paid off though — Rosen-
baum and others at the lodge agree Moñta-
na’s work represents the lodge’s artist resi-
dency program.
“The program is based on the expressive
impulsive,” Rosenbaum said. “In this mod-
ern world, we don’t always have a place for
that. Sam devotes himself to that type of
work.”
In Montaña’s view, creating artwork is
a form of communication. He doesn’t see a
value in making pieces that sit around his
own house and instead wants his pieces to
“have a life of their own.”
Although creating art can be self-grati-
fying, even therapeutic, Montaña wants to
move beyond art as a self-serving pursuit
and embracing the artist’s function as a con-
duit for shifting consciousness, he said.
“You are pushing at change and a shift in
the way we as humans perceive the world,”
Montaña said. “That’s more akin to the
motivation I would feel: Not that I want
to be sure I’m paid for my work, but more
how I want to be part of the conservation.”
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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2020 // 5