WOODCORE: Megita Denton, Bobby Mercier, Leroy Setziol, Monica Setziol-Phillips, Julian Watts, Ben Young, and Adam Zeek

WOODCORE presents work by seven Oregon-based artists and woodworkers who laboriously carve, shape, and transform the raw material of wood. Ranging from traditional Indigenous carving practices to more radical, sculptural experimentation, these sculptors—Megita Denton, Bobby Mercier, Leroy Setziol, Monica Setziol-Phillips, Julian Watts, Ben Young, and Adam Zeek—embody the distinctive energy of the Pacific Northwest.

Each of the artists find pleasure in scraps of wood– sourced from fallen or salvaged trees, road shoulders, or job sites, often obtained through personal connections or happenstance. Loose wood is a dangerous thing around these artists. 

Set outside of major art metropolises, WOODCORE presents modern and contemporary artworks that intrinsically honor the fertile, tangled, even wonky, forests that are emblematic of the Pacific Northwest.

With popup gallery shop by lowell 

Please join us for the opening reception with a ceremonial drum circle with artist Bobby Mercier and his fellow members of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde, on Friday, May 16th, 5:30pm-7:30pm. 
 
This exhibition is supported in part by Onpoint Credit Union. Special thanks to DRAWINGS for exhibition design support, and to Lynne Naughton for loaning work from her collection for this exhibition.