Cliff Notes
Each week, our regional Cliff Notes columnists Mariah Green, Vanessa Perez Winder, Jas Keimig, and Sam Wrigglesworth pick the most exciting events and exhibitions on the West Coast.
Nona Faustine: She was a culmination of all things in Heaven and Earth
lumber room, Portland, OR
December 3, 2023 to February 24, 2024
This solo exhibition from Brooklyn-based photographer Nona Faustine combines selections from two series, “White Shoes” and “Mitochondria.”
In “White Shoes” Faustine uses her own body to reflect on New York City’s role in the chattel slave trade through quietly confrontational self-portraits that are site-specific and thoughtfully researched. She is oftentimes nude aside from white heels, a symbol that brings to mind associations such as assimilating into White culture and patriarchy. “Mitochondria,” a title referencing DNA that is inherited solely through our mothers, honors intergenerational lineages of women within Faustine’s family through photography that reads differently—more snapshot style, intimate and everyday. Together in one exhibition these works speak to Faustine’s resolve as a witness to honor the Black body, or more specifically the Black female body, in varied scales.
Reflection: Do you know the history of the land local to your current neighborhood or hometown?
Marcus Fischer: What Was Lost and What Remains
Oregon Contemporary, Portland, OR
November 3, 2023 to February 11, 2024
The centerpiece of this exhibition, Mass, is a sound piece representing data of mass shootings in the United States for each month of 2022. Spent bullet shells vibrate within speakers reflecting the intensity of gun violence along a timeline, creating a truly embodied experience. While Fischer is an experienced musician, for this show he also experimented with visual methods new to him such as letterpress and melting and casting brass.
In my experience, it’s not often that reflections on the gravity of gun violence are not immediately paired with a moral appeal—it’s a complicated landscape where liberal calls for gun reform hardly ever simultaneously challenge the monopoly on violence that the state has. I found myself appreciating that Fischer created a different type of space for this topic where we can sit with the weight for a while.
Reflection: How does loss take shape in your life?