Stephanie Chefas Projects is delighted to present Safe Spaces, a solo exhibition from Portland-based artist Betsy Walton. Balancing various elements to dizzying perfection, Walton's work imparts endless discovery and a transient essence. With each piece, Walton draws upon microscopic natural phenomena, motherhood, weather, mindfulness, and printmaking, weaving them together in a working, symbiotic whole. The Pacific Northwest also provided a creative foundation and she spares no detail while reimagining its rich landscape.
In blending organic forms, symbolic elements, geometric patterns, and vivid colors, Walton creates a visual vocabulary that's entirely her own. To gaze upon each work is to get lost in a full range of moods, images, and perspectives. One could isolate just a minor section of the painting to uncover layer upon layer of glorious detail. Meanwhile, a playful and even childlike temperament persists, as if each piece were sprung from the deepest stratum of human imagination. Even when gazing upon the same work over and over again, no two journeys are the same.
In the artists own words: "I like to create images that feel like treasure hunts of sorts, where there are nuances and gems tucked into the image that can be savored over lots of encounters. I enjoy creating images that pair contrasting visual elements together, for example, washy textures with sharp-edged geometric shapes. Neutral colors with saturated color and highly refined more realistic representations against simple forms that are suggested, stylized, or planes of flat color. Likewise, when I am pairing figures and icons in these spaces, I seek to depict a mix of emotions, moods, and layers of meaning."
Betsy Walton’s Safe Spaces will be on view at Stephanie Chefas Projects from May 2 - 30, 2020. Stephanie Chefas Projects is located in Portland, Oregon at 305 SE 3rd Avenue on the second floor of the Urban Row building.
