Winnowing

Alix Jo Ryan and Jade Mara Novarino

February 7–28, 2021

W is for Winter and 

Winter is for Winnowing

seeds, papers and photographs 

organizing the piles like 

—moving a garden

the garden behind the house 

becoming

a notebook slipped into a pocket

collages are quilts 

are grandma’s 

hands in the dirt

correspondence, sculptures, and paintings 

a practice in living

Alix Jo Ryan’s work considers the grid as an impossible yet normalized phenomenon, understanding the accumulation of property through violence to be constitutive of contemporary notions of freedom, open space, and wilderness. She spent the latter half of her childhood living amongst expatriate communities in Tunisia and Singapore before returning to her home region of Portland, Oregon where she currently lives and works.

Jade Mara Novarino is an artist based out of the outskirts of Portland, Oregon. She is part of a lineage of Pacific Northwest calligraphers, runs a small press called Penny Press, collaboratively farms on traditional Kalapuya land, and would much rather be your pen pal than explain herself here. Email her to be in touch at pennypresspennypress@gmail.com.

Press:

Lindsay Costello, Oregon Arts Watch (March 5, 2021) Holding on to the dear: Jade Mara Novarino and Alix Jo Ryan: Novarino and Ryan's "Winnowing" exhibition at Well Well Projects delves into attention, care, and correspondence. https://www.orartswatch.org/holding-on-to-the-dear-jade-mara-novarino-and-alix-jo-ryan/