Ekphrasis: A PCC Faculty Exhibition
Posted by Christine Weber
Tatiana Simonova, The Speaker Revealed, 2022-24, graphite on paper, 44 x 60″. Courtesy of the artist.
Ekphrasis: A PCC Faculty Exhibition
- Exhibition Dates: February 26, 2026 – April 17, 2026
- Gallery hours: Monday – Friday, 8am-4pm.
- Opening Reception: Saturday, February 28, 5:00 – 8:00 p.m.
PROGRAMMING
- CORE cohort, Opportunity Center students Visit: Thursday, February 26 and Friday, February 27.
- Improvisational Theater Student Performances: Wednesday, March 4, 12:00 – 1:00 p.m.
- Ekphrastic Poetry Reading: Date and Time TBD.
- Music and Sonic Arts Faculty Performances: Thursday, April 16, 5:00 – 7:00 p.m.
- Additional Events announced soon.
Ekphrasis comes from the Greek words ek (out) and phrásis (speak), literally speaking out. The Poetry Foundation defines an ekphrastic poem as a vivid description of a work of art. But ekphrasis is more than giving voice to the visual, more than mere description. Ekphrasis offers one’s voice in dialogue with another. In Ekphrasis: A PCC Faculty Exhibition, recent art from Portland Community College art faculty and lab techs is positioned in conversation, both with each other and with writing faculty who composed ekphrastic poems about the work.
Brittney Cathey-Adams, Holding Patterns, 2025, digital print, 16 x 20″. Courtesy of the artist.
Writer Lilliane Louvel explains ekphrasis as an encounter between artistic media. Each artist builds a unique vocabulary of colors, textures, lines, shapes, space, and ideas. Each writer develops a voice with particular words, rhythms, sounds, and silences. And an ekphrastic encounter puts those two unique languages in conversation. In this exhibition, both the artists and writers created their work in the context of solitary artistic practices, yet when brought together in the gallery, they become partners on a path to deeper understanding through intersubjectivity. What unfolds when writers and visual artists position their work in relation to each other? What do ideas developed in solitude look like when placed in relation to the ideas of others? How do the thoughts and understandings of others expand our own perceptions?
Rachel Milstein, The Wounds We Live In, 2020, porcelain, encaustic, wax, 14 x 8 x 6″. Courtesy of the artist.
PCC art and writing teachers provide abundant opportunities to explore such intersubjective questions in their classrooms. They engage students in the frightening and exhilarating process of expressing themselves and encountering the self-expression of others. They work hard to create spaces of experimentation that push students to try new techniques, hone their craft, deepen their understanding of historical context, and find the courage to tell their own stories. This work alone is a full-time job.
Yet in order to do this work well, people who teach in the arts also build and nurture their own creative practice. Each teacher’s creative work becomes a vital component of their students’ learning. And many faculty argue that they learn just as much from their students. Every arts educator, whether visual artist, performer, writer or musician, brings a wealth of experience from their own professional practice into the classroom every day. Their knowledge of the sometimes painful, sometimes thrilling process of creation, becomes a model for students embarking on their own paths. Thus this exhibition also proposes the professional work of PCC artists and writers as a catalyst that encourages students to find and honor their own voices. We need all of you (us) together making art now more than ever.
Petra Sairanen, Belly of Hope, 2021, oil and gunpowder on canvas, 56 x 49″. Courtesy of the artist.
About the Artists and Writers:
The exhibition features work by artists Mark Andres, Ben Buswell, Brittney Cathey-Adams, Shelley Chamberlin, Brenden Clenaghen, Tatiana Gebert, Chrys Giffen, Sabina Haque, Ibrahim Harris, Genie Ilmenev, Todd Johnson, Una Kim, Chris Knight, Michael Lazarus, Dede Lucia, Kim Manchester, Mike McGovern, Rachel Milstein, Lauren Moradi, Sam Morgan, Kathi Rick, Zeinab Saab, Petra Sairanen, sandy sampson, Steven Schiewe, Rachel Siegel, Tatiana Simonova, Marie Sivak, Lisa Smith, Mandy Stigant, Melanie Treuhaft, Phyllis Trowbridge, and Charles Washburn, along with poetry by Rachel Attias, Anna Erwert, Caitlin Dwyer, Erin Ergenbright, Jessica Johnson, Karah Kemmerly, Justin Rigamonti, Selene Ross, Veronica Sandoval, Megan Savage, Scott Sutherland, and Vandoren Wheeler.
For full artist bios, please visit the exhibition.