Embracing tradition helps me to embrace change. I intend each artwork I make to operate as a provocative invitation for the viewer to go past their mind’s normal conceptions, while still maintaining their own relationship to mindfulness and looking. I have a studied, experimental mode of making art; it is not aimed at perfection, but rather discovery. I want to communicate a feeling of extension beyond a plan or formula and paint mysteries that seem familiar.
― Richard D. York
When: October 5th, 2018 from 5:00-8:00pm
What: You won’t want to miss this final Vancouver Native Artist Series event in 2018! For October’s First Friday, our featured guest is contemporary visual artist, Richard D. York. York, who lives and works in Portland, is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation and a council member of Mt. Hood Cherokees, an official at-large satellite community of the Cherokee Nation in the Portland, Oregon area.
Who: Richard D. York currently works in acrylics and mixed media. After earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree with a dual emphasis in painting and photography from Boise State University he spent the first stage of his career as a Medical/Public Relations photographer at OHSU. He then went on to earn a Master of Fine Arts in Visual Studies from the PNCA (Pacific Northwest College of Art) Hallie Ford School of Graduate Studies. During his graduate studies he was awarded a residency at Caldera and he was the recipient of the PNCA MFA in Visual Studies Merit Scholarship for 2012-2014. In addition to showing work in gallery and studio exhibits, York has also been featured on four different occasions on the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Emerging Artists website. His work has been selected for publication in Studio Visit Magazine (2014), ARTE FUSE (2014) and most recently, the American Artwork 2018 Edition. (Collectors take note!). Currently his work is held in private collections nationally.
York describes his artistic vision as inspired by his experience of the world. While incorporating elements that reflect his rich Cherokee heritage, culture and ancestors he also powerfully integrates aspects of philosophy, paradigms, exclusion and inclusion within his paintings. In a current body of work titled, “Becoming and Being,” he emphasizes, contrasts and compares the notions of “Becoming” and “Being” held in society. He explains that within and through this work he is able to subvert the faux binary or “a nurtured schism” between these two often disparate world views. York describes the outcome “in a seemingly divided world there is continuity, there is no division, we are continually Becoming and Being.”
This is the first opportunity art patrons will have to view York’s work on the Vancouver, Washington side of the river. York will be available for the duration of the reception to speak with guests about his work.
The original paintings in the exhibit – including many in smaller sizes – will be offered for sale. Our advice? Come early! Click here to see more of his work.
Where: Native Arts and Cultures Foundation, National Headquarters, The Providence Academy Building, 400 E. Evergreen Blvd. #101B, Vancouver, WA 98660
Parking & Access: Park anywhere around the building but for ACCESS walk south to the MAIN ENTRANCE front doors facing Evergreen Boulevard. We’ll be manning the doors. Lost? Call Elizabeth Madrigal at 360-281-1615.