Inside: Layered Environment by Will Brown

Around the end of February, Will Brown’s show of paintings went up at False Front gallery. False Front is a residential gallery in northeast Portland that consistently puts out unique shows. I was excited to see Will’s work, which I got to know a bit beforehand by meeting them at Hide and Seek gallery and later doing a studio tour.

The paintings were replicas of two subjects Will had found and photographed in nature, and there was typically a wash of color over where the scenes overlapped.

The ocean was a recurring presence in the paintings. There was also a set of three paintings that had removable extrusions with them that changed the composition on display. I liked the interactive element of that, as if it was inviting the viewer back to the scene to make aesthetic decisions.

I thought the paintings were a beautiful way to document places in time, and how captivating of a diary entry would it be if we all merged together interesting places we have been. At least living in the Pacific Northwest, I know I could come up with a lot of memorable spaces.

When I toured Will’s studio last July, I got to see the compositions in various stages. It was also a workshop, as they stretch their own canvas. My favorite part was getting to hear about their memories from living in the Bay Area that gave them fuel for their paintings.

Will has an awesome newsletter that you can subscribe to by going to their website, https://www.willbrownart.com/about. They’re also local to Portland, so hit them up if you have questions about their work.

See you at the next one,

Alice