Place and Imagination

Paintings by Alberto Soriano
Paintings by Joan Darling

Inspiration and imagination are essential ingredients in any artist creation. Alberto Soriano and Joan Darling have been inspired by two cultures - Soriano's Andes and Darling's Mexico - and they fired up their imagination to create the vivid paintings in this show.


Claudio Alberto Soriano was born in Cuzco, Peru, and has lived and worked in Ecuador for twelve years. He studied in La Escuela Superior Autonónoma de Bellas Artes Diego Quispe Titto in Cuzco. The themes of his paintings are inspired by the Inca symbolism of his native country, transformed and enhanced by his experience in Ecuador.


Since 1979, Soriano has had 18 individual exhibitions in Peru, Ecuador, Switzerland and Chicago, and has participated in more than 20 group shows. He is represented in collections in Buenos Aires, Lima and Chicago, as well as in major Ecuadorian cities.

This is the first Portland show of Soriano's paintings and he will be present at the opening.

Joan Darling began painting and drawing at a young age in Michigan. In adulthood she relocated to Oregon where she studied art at Portland State University and Clark College in Vancouver. Before retiring, Joan began to enter art shows in Oregon, Washington and Arizona. In this arena she has received several awards in juried shows.


Darling traveled to Mexico several times to paint in colonial cities such as Guanajuato, San Miguel de Allende, Morelia, Patzcuaro and Taxco. In these stunning settings she was inspired by the murals and paintings created by Mexican artists such as Alfredo Zalce, Diego Rivera, Jose Clemente Orozco and Jose Chavez Morado.


Some of the Hispanic-themed paintings Darling will display at Onda were created from on-site drawings or watercolors. Others are a composite of memory of a particular place and imagination.

June 24-July 27, 2010
Gallery hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 11-6, Sunday 12-4