Illuminated Wilderness: Memory | Kindra Crick

January 8 - February 2, 2018 | Littman Gallery

Reception: Wednesday, January 17, 2018 | 5 - 8pm

Curated by Jude Boatman

Kindra Crick’s multimedia exhibition explores the intersection between the ‘two cultures’ of science and art that share a common wonder at the creative possibilities which emerge from the cross-pollination of the material and natural worlds.

Audiences will find themselves enveloped in, and invited to navigate through, an imagined wilderness of the brain within a space filled with LED-illuminated ‘neurons.’ Dendritic arms made of fabric-wrapped wire reach out to create an immersive experience of neuroplasticity. Corseted around each neuron is netted fabric that shimmers in its embrace of the memories held within each synaptic connection. This work was initiated during a collaboration with WSU neuroscientist Dr. John Harkness.

Also on display are a series of memory-inspired collections and etchings created during Crick’s recent Schnitzer Printmaking Residency at the Sitka Center. The artist collection of jars contain the ephemeral memories and captured smells of the Oregon coastal wilderness and a delicate bioluminescent curiosity which follows the circadian rhythm of day and night.

Kindra Crick is a Portland-based artist who gives visual expression to the wonder and process of scientific inquiry and discovery. In her installations and layered mixed-media work, she incorporates drawings, diagrams, maps and imagery from under the microscope. Her work has been influenced by the inspired marriage of her grandparents, the scientist Francis Crick and the artist Odile Crick. Her work is included in the LMB collection in Cambridge, England with exhibitions at the New York Hall of Science and MDI Biological Laboratory. Her work has been featured in Science Magazine, The Huffington Post, SciArt Magazine and Oregon Art Beat.