may_show_-bull.jpg
  • Lyrik

In case you missed it in this week's Art Chart, on Saturday from 7-10 pm, paper artist Sarah Louise Laws' first Portland solo show will open at Lyrik (2035 SE 39th Ave). The exhibit is called Plants and Animals, inspired by "personal narrative, dreams and emotions, domesticity, folk art, flora and fauna, travel, and things made by hand."

Speaking from the sample images I've seen of the show, Laws' work straddles several lines. From an aesthetic standpoint, hand-cut paper works appear almost computer-generated, executed via bold, graphical line work— but in reality, this style is arrived at from older-world, craft techniques. Secondly, there's a nod to the complex ecosystems and symbiotic relationships which place plants and animals in the same continuum: A bull is hollowed out with a crop of corn growing inside it; a horse, populated by vines and leaves. Herein, flora and fauna are part of the same beast, just as craft and design come in a singular, smooth motion.

Aside from Laws' artwork, the night will feature a set by DJ Eddie Paycheck, and there will be plenty of booze to, um, inspire you. Click past the jump for a handful of images from the show, including both finished and in-progress works.