Artist curator Jess Hirsch presents Folk Feng Shui. My Chinese friend describes her grandfather's explanation of feng shui. It can be translated as windows and doors. Before window glass, windows and doors were covered with heavy curtains to keep the wind out. It was necessary to orient the windows and doors in relation to the sun and prevailing winds to keep those heating bills down. That is feng shui. He explained that years later people in Hong Kong got a hold of the idea and made up layers of mysticism to make money. Some major Hong Kong commercial buildings are even sited on "land meridians". So there you have it. Artist Hirsch has playfully sampled the idea and is also responsible for the new Nationale's auspicious feng shui. Her unique contribution is considering bodies in the space as part of and aligned with its feng shui. Nationale has a new series of multiple performances and events in the space, you are invited for a small member fee, it's a great bargain (click on members in the link). Opening at NATIONALE nationaleportland.blogspot.com 811 E Burnside in back. 6PM-9
House Arrest is a show by artists Nan Curtis, Ianthe Jackson, Rachel Peddersen and Tyler Wallace. It should be a fun show of loosely domestic themed work. At Worksound www.worksoundpdx.com 820 SE Alder 6PM-10
Photographer Liz Haley is known for ambiguous psychological portraits resembling motion picture stills. She has been expanding on this idea with constructed composites, in still form and as short videos. This show continues the constructed theme with SAME SPHERE: never meeting. She also wins the copywriting award of the month: "Perhaps now, comfort is in the privacy of your own virtual identity. In a time where life is performed in front of a camera broadcasting the minute details of daily personal activities, are people revealing more or less? Is the increased fervor for virtual connection a somber echo in the skies of an increasingly ailing society or is the need satiating a long overdue reminder that people the world over are strikingly similar? With technology so pervasive, this unique era brings to light many questions of community, isolation, authenticity and 'connection'. Are these imagined structures of community an invasion or complement to the natural world?" At Pushdot Studio www.pushdotstudio.com 1021 SE Caruthers 6PM-9
Portland sculptor Sanna-Lisa Gesang-Gottowt has a show of intimate sculptures at salon Primp. Included are her snow eggs. 4335 SE Division 7PM-9
America Beautiful Possibility is a show by visiting Homeland resident artist Alison Pebworth. She is traveling America's byways, sampling stories of communities she visits and presenting her work, Chautauqua-style. It's part of her recontextualization of American culture through folk style painting resembling historical advertising before the capability to print photographic images cheaply. One theme are some aspects of history not entirely honorable we often glance over. Another is a fascinating history of psychiatry, pre-DSM. In 1869, American neurologist George M. Beard proposed a condition Neurasthenia, "the exhaustion of the central nervous system's energy reserves attributed to the stresses of life in the fast-paced industrial age of America" (from the artist). This would be pre-Freud. Other American psychologists dubbed it "Americanitis". Artist Pebworth invites your opinion of Americanitis, has it disappeared? The show is a fascinating artistic interpretation of history. Strongly recommended. At Gallery Homeland www.galleryhomeland.org 2505 SE 11th x Division 6PM-9
Illustrator Nicomi "Nix" Turner and painter Justin Barry present a collaboration Nocturnal: Life in Darkness - Skulls, Botany and Bats, a Journey Through Nature's Darkness. Bats get a bad rap. They are champion mosquito eaters. See these artists' thoughts on nightlife. At Redux www.reduxpdx.com 811 E Burnside 6PM-10
Sound is art too. This is a student sound performance at PNCA, the result of Seth Nehil’s Intermediate Sound class. Sound artists presenting include Hill Hudson, Tuna Poanessa, Kayla Martin, Nina “Buenos” Diaz, Missy Canez, Alex Smith, Thomas Himes, Tana Becker, Devvin Trainer, Kyle Raquipiso, Kristen Smallwood, Rbrt Burns, Gabi Villasenor, Darja Bajagic and Nehil himself. Hear the Hubbub at PNCA www.pnca.edu 1241 NW Johnson 7PM-9
Portland illustrator Andrea Benson has an unusual amalgam of drawing and encaustic. You can see it at 23Sandy www.23sandy.com 623 NE 23 at Sandy 5PM-8
Activist artist Gabe Flores has an installation, Greener than you at Milepost 5 in the lobby of the modern loft building.
Disjecta has an early batch of graduating artist thesis shows. This one is MFA graduates from the University of Oregon. Included are Jared Davis-Haug, John Paul Gardner, Christian Harger, Lori Heagle, Eugenia Kroik, Sandee McGee, Tim Meyer, Oran Miller, Scott Nieradka, Carly Piccarello, Rob Smith, Jesse Sugarmann, and Ashley Brooke Taylor. At Disjecta www.disjecta.org 8371 N. Interstate 6PM-9
