Through the LooQing Glass

Featuring the art of:

Mischa Ally
Matthew-Mary Caruchet
Mahogany LaPiranHa
Bird Lindsay
Dev McCauley
OctoEyes
James Prost
Grego Rachko
Darby Rages
Panic Volkushka
Timothy White Eagle and Adrain Chesser

For Pride, The Factory is filling every available space with queer art showcasing three unique shows. Also on view:

Rest Your Head on My Shoulder by Kade Marsili
http://tiny.cc/KadeMarsili

Our Father Who Art in Hell – JAF 6:13
http://tiny.cc/JAF

Artist bios:

Mischa Ally – Mischa is a self taught transgender musician and artist born and raised in South Georgia. She focuses on experimental microtonal music and processed based multimedia abstract figurative painting. Some primary components of her work are trusting in improvisation and the hidden layers in painting that are forced to be lost in genuine movement.  Her work- ranging from musical performances, displaying artwork, live painting and Atlanta Beltine Grant awarded public art installations have been shown in a variety of spaces in Portland, OR and the south including Wonderroot Arts Center, Beep Beep Gallery, Big House on Ponce, Dodekapus Multimedia Events and more. She currently lives in Portland, OR.

Mahogany LaPiranHa – Mahogany is a trans, genderqueer performance artist. She uses fashion and found materials for self-expression, to push envelopes to speak when words aren’t sufficient. Mahogany tries to save or salvage things thought lost, as well as provoke thought and emotion.

Bird Lindsay – Bird Lindsay is a queer artist from Portland, Or.  They started college at 16, and began studying photography and sculpting. At 18, they moved to LA and became a Makeup Artist, winning an international award and published in Makeup Artist Magazine. From there, they used their sculpting skills for cinema makeup, having been featured in shows such as America’s Next Top Model, General Hospital, etc. During this time they began to experiment with Oil Paints and build multidimensional paintings, inspired from their background in sculpting and makeup artistry. 

Dev McCauley – Dev McCauley’s work considers the complexities of forming and expressing a queer identity in heteronormative society. Performance, video, garment construction and installation combine to create a physical space in which to experience her work. Her video performance foregrounds the tension between the expression of her gender and sexuality and the normative context in which she exists. Dev confronts heteronormativity with an exaggerated performance of her queerness. She reinterprets her experiences growing up as a queer trans woman through a mixture of abstract movements and actions. Dev seeks to claim space for her identity and to communicate a self-representative message about her body and bodies like hers. She performs in expressive outfits that are designed to celebrate the queerness of her body. The set of the video is recreated in the gallery space to confront heteronormativity in the art world and to reclaim space that has long excluded artists like her.

OctoEyes – OctoEyes (aka Ron Smith) works in a variety of media to actualize his unorthodox visions. Strongly influenced by a steady diet of post-apocalyptic fiction, scuba diving, and exploration, his works span scales small and large and toy with materiality.

James Prost – As a mixed Two Spirit Indigenous person, this is what we have done for more than a millennia- make art, bring laughter through pain, and show the world all of the paths that exist beyond the binary. My pieces are the expression of the modern Two Spirit as medicine carriers and as a testament of the resiliency of the Native American people to not only survive but to thrive in the ways their ancestors only dreamed were possible.

Grego Rachko – Grego paints patterns as a way of reflecting the patterns in our own lives. We create patterns to decorate objects, gardens, fabrics, ourselves and just to create beauty. Our societies, religions, and cultures happen in patterns that give our lives meaning. He uses patterns in a painting to reinforce both the composition and the content.

Darby Rages – Darby identifies as a non-binary queer femme, and has been using different forms of creative expression for all their life.  They have worked in many mediums and explored new ways to communicate ideas and delve into many social issues that affect us today. For Darby, the conversations that arise from the works are the art itself. Darby’s pieces ask the viewer to examine their own thoughts on body politics, desirability, and uniqueness.  Think of how you judge others based on their physical features.  Or even how you judge yourself.

Panic Volkushka – Panic is a queer, transgender man, born and raised in Texas. Panic is an eclectic multimedia artist, creating comic books, paintings, dolls, embroidery, and tapestries. Regardless of media, Panic’s work often focuses on bodies and embodiment, and the shifting boundaries of queerness, beauty, and body horror.

Timothy White Eagle and Adrain Chesser – Timothy was born in Tucson; his mother was Apache from White Mountain. He was given up for adoption at birth and raised by a working-class white family in Washington. He has worked extensively in the past two decades exploring Native American, Pagan and other earth-based Spiritual practices. In 2006 he began collaborating with photographer Adrain Chesser. Their work together has been displayed and published nationally and internationally. In 2014 he and Adrain released their book, “the Return”. Timothy continues to foster relationships with artists seeking to create objects and performances which contain the convenience of Spirit.