Everything Dead is Alive Again

Celebrating the Days of the Dead, November 1 and 2

Paintings, drawings, sculptures, photographs, prints and mixed media

Latino artists from Oregon and Washington - Analee Fuentes, Cristina Acosta, Gene Flores, Alejandro Ceballos, Susana Espino, Paulina Hermosillo, Hampton Rodriguez, Roberto Herrera, Armando Olveda and Pepe Moscoso - will exhibit their work, and other artists working within the genre, including Joan Darling, Nancy Watterson Scharf, Gregory Carrigan, Clay Hoffman, Sue Burnett and Kat Keating, will also have their art in the show. Other highlights are an altar by Justine Avera and Vincent Ramirez, a shadow puppet play by Shiney Penny Productions and art from Zarco Guerrero of Mesa, Arizona.

The Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos in Spanish) is a holiday celebrated mainly in Mexico and by people of Mexican heritage (and others) living in the United States and Canada. The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and relatives who have died. The celebration occurs on the 1st and 2nd of November, in connection with the Catholic holy days of All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day which take place on those days.

Traditions include building private altars honoring the deceased, using sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed, and visiting graves with these as gifts. Observance of the holiday in Mexican-American communities in the United States has become more important and widespread as the community grows numerically and economically.

October 28-November 14, 2010
Opening and artists' reception - October 28, 6-9 PM
Gallery hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 11-6, Sunday 12-4

Children of Darkness and Light

Drawings by Mabel Astarloa Haley
Mixed media by Heidi Marie Balmaceda
Paintings by Maite Tobon

Mabel Astarloa Haley began her series of drawings called "Grunge People" as an experiment, an emotional reaction to the frustrating situation in politics. She spotlights individuals in the crowd in a dramatic way which reflects her forty years of creating sets and costumes in Argentina, France, Switzerland and large American cities. She taught in the Departments of Theater Arts at Brandeis University in Boston and Portland State University. She has also exhibited her paintings in galleries and showcases in the Pacific Northwest, including Beaverton Arts Commission shows, The High Desert Museum in Bend, Klamath County Government Center, Oregon State University, and a one person show at the BICC Gallery, Oregon Health & Science University.

Heidi Marie Balmaceda is an artist from Portland, Oregon. As a little girl she spent time with her family in Chile and Colombia. Her Latin heritage lends itself to vibrant and rich colors in her artwork. She studied at Portland State University and has lived in the area for the last 30 years. Her current pieces are metallic acrylic paints layered with metal leaf pieces. It is a technique she developed over the last few years. Due to the nature of the materials used and their application, no two works are alike. Unique in their patterns of heated foils and designs, they change as the light around them changes, from softness and depth to brilliant flashes.

Maite Tobon brings an energetic, vibrant and simplified view of figures from her native country Colombia. She immigrated to the United States about fourteen years ago. As an artist, she has distilled her memories into figurative paintings which blend influences of the Colombian Pacific coast life and the African culture. She likes to show through her paintings a culture and life style where the people work hard yet seem to be happy much of the time. They show it through the rhythm and movement of their bodies and the vibrant colors of their clothing. They have no faces because they are anonymous people that represent a part of the world that is not easily comprehended and rarely listened to. Acrylic is her preferred medium and she uses a base of hard molding paste that gives the painting realism and movement, as well as visual and tactile effect.

September 30 - October 26, 2010
Opening and Artists' Reception - September 30, 6-9 PM
Gallery hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 11-6, Sunday 12-4

Between Places and Spaces

Paintings by William Hernandez
Photographs by Pepe Moscoso

Two young artists - Hernandez originally from Peru and Moscoso from Mexico - are deeply involved in creating and sharing their vision in Portland.

Artist statement by William Hernandez:

This show is about the relationship between space and national identity. I left Peru, my native country, about a year ago and now I live in Portland. Sometimes I wonder if there is a space/time connection between here and there. How exactly does this dislocation affect an artist's work?

Because so many things have changed, I think it's very important. Portland's colors contrast with the beautiful landscapes of the interior of Peru, but the gloomy backdrop of Lima also contains magic and rituals beyond what we find in a more intimate city like Portland. These are the kinds of differences that I observe daily and I try to capture these flashes of insight in sketches for new projects that find their way to canvas.

This creative freedom is flowing through my work, putting together memories, experiences, lessons learned, friendships, achievements and feelings. The new journey that began with the "return of chasqui" connects the "national" feeling of my homeland to the "local" flavor of my so-far satisfactory stay in this place of pines, snow, rivers, people, rock-n-roll, trains, cafes, green, rain, bridges and more bridges and far off in the distance something called Peru.

Artist statement by Pepe Moscoso:

This photographic study called "En conjunto" seeks to create a visual metaphor, to find new meanings in tiny fragments of life, and, by revealing them, create an almost impossible moment. An essential element in this photographic work is the fusion of images, where each one speaks and expresses a stolen moment in the past. The greatest merit of photography is its ability to preserve those small moments, those unrepeatable fragments of life.


The main objective of this photo series is to create a new image. I seek to reveal a new and hidden perspective, an ephemeral reality that begins with its creation and ends in the moment you see it. It is a fleeting instant which is preserved and maintained in the subjective essence of our being.

Duality plays an important role in this study, as it serves to create a harmonious equilibrium between the subjective and objective, as well as a connection between realities and unrealities. It represents the place where the observer becomes the middle ground, an intersection between perception and visual representation. In this way, it generates both concrete and abstract thoughts of the image.

This study compiles images of various places such as Portland, Oaxaca and other parts of Mexico. It was inspired by a search for reality and by the photographer’s constant quest for detail.

August 26-September 28, 2010
Opening and Artists' Reception - August 26, 6-9 PM

Materials Old and New

Collages from recycled print media by Hampton Rodriguez
Sculptures in autoclaved aerated cement by Carole Murphy and students

Hampton Rodriguez celebrates his tenth year in Portland with new works inspired by the Alberta Street scene he's been part of since he arrived. The decade has been marked by increased consciousness of environmental impact, and he has created collages made from recycled printed materials for this show.

A native of the Dominican Republic, Rodriguez developed a loyal following from Bohio Studio, his Alberta Street work and exhibit space. He received his art education at the Altos de Chavon School of Design in the Dominican Republic and at t in Hillsboro. In 2004 he was the Alberta Art Hop Featured Artist with over 200 works in galleries and businesses along the street. In 2005 he was part of "People, Places and Perceptions - A Look at Contemporary Northwest Latino Art" at Maryhill Museum in Goldendale, WA. He has also painted murals on the walls of commercial businesses and non-profit organizations and created sets for Teatro Milagro's production of "Men on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown."

Carole Murphy, raised and educated with a family of lawyers in Vermont, began sculpting at the age of 40. It was not long until the forms began to take shape, and she has exhibited her work in galleries and museums from Portland, the Oregon coast and the state of Washington to Santa Fe, New Mexico, Scottsdale, Arizona and Burlington, Vermont. She is president of the Pacific Northwest Sculptors Guild.

What distinguishes her current work is the experimentation with a unique material, Autoclaved Aerated Cement. Although created for the construction industry, AAC is perhaps even more ideal as a sculpting medium. Yet there are only a few artists who have discovered it. Even though the artistic use of the material is in its infancy, AAC outperforms many other well know and widely used alternatives.

Murphy talks about the creative process with this new material. "My work is leaning at this point towards sensual organic forms, and this material has assisted me in traveling far from the genre I began with. At the very least, it has made my journey here more straightforward. I look forward to seeing what is possible for others and the directions they travel to."

Some of the "others" using the material are sculptors who have taken classes with Murphy. Their work will also be part of the exhibit.

July 29-August 24, 2010
Opening and artists' reception - July 29, 6-9 PM
Gallery hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 11-6, Sunday 12-4

Costa Rican women artists coming to Portland

Earlier this week, four women artists of Grecia, Costa Rica's Jadeazul Artist Guild, arrived in Oregon sponsored by the local affiliate of Partners of the Americas. Raquel Mora, Jeanette Trejos, Rosemeri Vega and Sonia Alfaro are visiting several cities and exhibiting over twenty pieces of their art (and paintings by Magda Córdoba) which are available for purchase.

They will be showing their work at Onda Gallery (2215 NE Alberta, Portland) one day only, Saturday, July 10, 3-8 PM, and we invite all those who appreciate Latin art to welcome them.

The artists are donating proceeds from their work toward two Partners of the Americas' projects— "Wheelchairs for Children" and "La Casita," a neighborhood health clinic in San Jose co-owned by members of Partners of the Americas in Oregon and Costa Rica.

Come meet the artists and enjoy the art, food, drink and music on our patio.

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

Totemic Power

Sculptures by Patricia Mahan
Paintings by David Wien



Patricia Mahan is a found art assemblage artist doing figurative sculpture. Her media are primarily mixed metal, wood and clay. As she describes her artistic process, "Some of the assemblage sculptures come together quickly and easily. Other times weeks and months go by before the right piece brings itself together. What [I] love is finding something and looking at new ways to use it, giving it a new life and purpose with a new meaning. Transforming the objects demands a playful imagination and the constant challenge of opening the mind to see it in a new and different way. When an object begins to develop a presence, a kind of totemic power all its own, that is when we know it’s close to being completed."



Mahan was born in Beirut, Lebanon, of American parents. She studied and performed flamenco dance but. after a debilitating car accident, she turned her talents to visual arts. Her work has been shown in Bordello Gallery and Galeria Atelier and Gallery Zoho in the Fabrica Aurora in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, where she has her studio, and in private collections in Los Angeles, New York City, Washington, DC, Toronto, Canada, Seattle, San Francisco, Portland, and Chicago.



David Wien creates original paintings and sculptures inspired by a wide range of ethnic styles, from Native American to Latin American. Animals, birds, humans are all part of a richly patterned universe. His interest lies in exploring art as a spiritual and inspirational nutrient for our lives similar to sunshine, nature, dreaming, and loving.



Wien was raised in Vermont. After completing a BFA in Fine Art with a Minor in Art History at the Rochester Institute of Technology, David took up residence in Chicago, then Grand Rapids, Michigan. He now lives in Portland, Oregon, where he exhibits in venues such as Paseo and is part of the Together Gallery on Alberta Street.

May 27-June 22, 2010
Opening and artists' reception: May 27, 6-9 PM
Gallery hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 11-6, Sunday 12-4