North (N)

In Smith Claudel's third solo exhibition with Carnation Contemporary, the yard is both a symbol and a physical source material, juxtaposing the enclosure of nature and its display with the control of the body. In this exhibition, temporary sculptures of raw clay, harvested from the artist’s yard, will soon return to the earth. A series of botanical drawings was made with the artist's menstrual blood. And a site-specific installation displays a collection of yard work specimens: a small patch of grass unnaturally maintained, nail enamel coating unfired pinch pots, and plant clippings caught in resin.

Yard Work examines the absurdity and care of maintaining one's landscape, and the tension between being kept and being desired.

Kim Smith Claudel is an artist and visual designer based in Portland, Oregon. Working across painting, sculpture, and installation, Smith Claudel creates work that exists in deliberate flux. Her process-driven approach embraces the ephemeral, the decaying, and the mundane, building visual systems that resist completion. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including a recent solo exhibition (End Cycle) at The Vestibule in Seattle. Other recent solo exhibitions include The Arts Center (Corvallis, OR), The Painting Center (NYC), Mt. Hood Community College (OR), and KyotoBA (Japan). Recent residencies include Building 5 in Portland and the Boston Center for the Arts. She holds an MFA from the School of Visual Arts. She received an MS in Media Arts and Sciences from the MIT Media Lab, where she was a Learning Innovation Fellow. She is a member of Carnation Contemporary Gallery and the WAVE artist collective.

Opening Saturday, October 03, 5–8 p.m.

Join us the First Friday every month for our artists reception 5-9pm. Meet and mingle with the artists and see work that changes monthly.

November 2026 features collaborative works from makers in Pacific Northwest Sculptors group.

https://pnwsculptors.org

image:

Ian Madin and Wayne Bunker, Ancient Warrior, $1,000, 16" long x 14" wide x 14" tall

Full Spectrum is a free exhibition of immersive art by Portland artists at Daydreamer Coffee and Public House. A prism reveals the colors already hidden in light. These artists use augmented and virtual reality in similar ways to reveal hidden layers of human feeling and connection. Point your phone at a print and watch it come alive, or see paintings made in virtual reality step into the room around you. No app or headset needed. Just stop by anytime Daydreamer is open.

Many of the works are for sale, from AR prints to original pieces. It's a chance to find a holiday gift you won't see anywhere else, made by a local artist. Grab a coffee and stay a while.

Opening reception: Saturday, November 7, 6 to 10 p.m.: Hear the artists talk about their work, try pieces on VR headsets and AR glasses not yet available to the public, and explore the show with your own phone. The night closes with a live generative audio and visual performance by Reese Bowes. Many works are for sale, just in time for the holidays.

Free and open to the public

The pace and compression of time are relentless, like getting whiplash while watching the sun rise. In Borne’s recent work, he uses sound, color, texture and motion to reflect on the experience of time. While some works attempt to freeze time by using gesture and color to elicit a bodily response, others playfully attempt to capture the doldrums of minutes passing us by, inviting meditation on seizing the mercurial moment.

From flower to pollen to fruit to seed, fitting perfectly into the migration of birds and the life cycles of insects or the feelings of being embodied by the physical sensations of having to pee, hunger or breathe, Laughery’s work is an exploration of the anatomical systems that sustain us within their cycles. His drawings use the aesthetics of our organs' unique folds, puckers and sacs to imagine new biologies, different systems.

Russell Borne received his BFA from Oregon State University in 2007 and his MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art in 2014. Russell’s artwork creates a dialogue invented through the interaction of objects to tell a story. He explores micro- and macro-cultural identity to pause and flip preconceptions of what you are looking at. Borne has spent the majority of his career in design and art direction for various international companies. Most recently, Borne leads North America Brand Design for Adidas. Borne lives and works in Portland, Oregon.

Drew Laughery is an artist and musician working across many media, though he tends to return again and again to drawing as a generative space to explore ideas. He was born and raised in rural Oregon. He loves paper and working with its unique qualities. He is a founding member of the rock band Blitzen Trapper and has toured the world performing on keyboards. He left in 2011 to pursue his visual art career, earning RACC grants and exhibiting around the Portland area. He is excited to debut at Carnation Contemporary for the first time as a new member.