Dream Juice
Paragon Arts Gallery at PCC Cascade presents DREAM JUICE. The exhibition opens Friday, March 7th, 2025, and runs through Saturday, April 12th, 2025.
Please join us for the opening event on Friday, March 7th, 2025 from 5-8p. Gallery will open at 12pm and close at 8pm.
All events are free and open to the public.
dream juice is a multimedia group show curated by Erika Callihan, including work from twenty five artists exploring ideas which originated in dreams. In the same way that dreams reveal a seemingly limitless array of elements and themes, the scope of this surprising and playful exhibition includes: paintings, drawings, collages, performances, photos, prints, songs, zines, videos, lamps, pillows, cookies, cake, candy, snacks, and a semi-functional papier-mâché “dating app.”
Participating artists: Sophia Baraschia-Ehrlich, Laura Bartram, Erika Callihan, Jesse Carsten, Imaginal Cells: Erin Aquarian + Nathan Hill, Sean Christensen (Phull Collums), Rachel Corry, Lindsay Costello, sd, Martha + Ním Daghlian, Kristen Diederich, Indigo Free, Kye Grant, Rainen Knecht, Eva Knowles, Josephine Lacosta, Rose Lewis, Biz Miller, Judy Myong Acupuncture, Salty Xi Jie Ng, Gili Rappaport, Dawn Riddle, Half Shadow, Anke Schüttler, Swinging, Jasmine Wood
Curatorial Statement:
“There is something vital in the involuntary act of dreaming, and in the sometimes-involuntary and sometimes-practiced act of remembering dreams. In dreams: we process and project. We can use dreams as tools to understand ourselves, but might we also use them to connect with something beyond ourselves?
Maybe a dream is complete in and of itself. Perhaps it needs no tending. But what if a dream is a seed- the compact and minuscule potentiality of something much larger and more tangible?What if a dream begins when you wake up? When you make breakfast? When you place a pencil on a blank page? When you call your friend just to say hello? Yoko Ono says: “a dream you dream alone is a dream; a dream you dream together is a reality.”
What might become possible if we prioritize the act of sharing our dreams, of co-creating new realities not only in our intimate relationships but in public? When everything with which we interact in our techno-centric media-saturated world has been dreamed and designed by someone, we must ask: who has the power to make their dreams real, and therefore: whose dream are we living in? Elon Musk says: “ I don’t seem to remember the good dreams… The ones I remember are the nightmares.”
How then might we reclaim our capacity to dream in defiance of the nightmarish current global moment? And what if dreaming is more than a mere capacity? What if dreaming is our responsibility?”
About the Artist/Curator:
Erika Callihan is a multimedia social practice artist and creative counselor living and working in Portland, Oregon. She completed her Associate of Science at Portland Community College in 2014, followed by a Bachelor of Science in Art Practices at Portland State University in 2017. She completed a 200-hour yoga teacher training and the Peoples Yoga in 2018, and a two-year counseling training program at Mindful Experience Therapy Approaches in 2021. Her work and practices integrate all of these studies and more- combining art, ecology, movement, philosophy and counseling in service to exploring the new potentials and possibilities within this particular place in this peculiar time. Her work is grounded in daily writing, drawing, music making, meditative movement, and walks with her dog. She organizes and facilitates spaces for artists to be creative together, ranging from drawing workshops to support groups for smartphone users. Despite the diversity of methods and mediums, the objective of Erika’s work is always this: to develop curiosity and to magnify our innate compassion and intrinsic sense of connection within ourselves, and therefore: with each other. And: to enjoy it! :o)