Marie Watt: Art News Review

Marie Watt: PDX Contemporary Art

Marie Watt addressed her Seneca Nation heritage in this show, titled "Marker," with sculptures that riffed on the native American practice of tying fabric strips around trees and other landmarks to denote trails and water sources.

For quiltlike pieces such as "Lamp" and "Sky World" (both 2010), the artist sewed images of branches and roots into reclaimed wool and satin. "Totem" (2010) depicts a tree with multicolored strips and extending up its gentle curves, while the more fanciful "Tether" (2010) shows an enormous swath of elaborately patterned cloth wrapped around a tree trunk, its ends fluttering in the wind.

Other works referred to the wool blankets often passed down among family members. "Axis Mundi" (2010) features a multihued stack of them climbing through the composition's center. Circles on either side, representing the sun and the moon, are accentuated with concentric stitching that gives the piece the look of modern geometric abstraction.

The imposing "Trunk" (2010) occupied the center of the gallery. Fashioned from cedar planks, the work is another variation on the stacked wool blankets that have become Watt's symbol for a long line of ancestors. The sculpture is rough-hewn on one side, smooth on the other, and shaped like cloth whipping a strong breeze. The choice of cedar, used in closets to protect wool from moths, is one of those small but significant touches typical of Watt's work.

The exhibition also included an interactive installation titled "Heirloom" (2010), in which visitors were invited to sit at a desk and write stories about heirlooms they had been given by family and friends. An accompanying soundtrack replayed the stories documented by previous participants. Spanning diverse mediums, this show coalesced around the idea that long-established traditions remain relevant to our contemporary journeys.

- Richard Speer