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Stories of Fire
Online
Exhibition
Ser
ies Part II:

Anne Acker-Mathieu 

Ignition Casino

acrylic collage, 17in x 20in, 2023

Fire depends on the fuels that feed it. Together with topography and weather, fuels determine a wildfire’s behavior: where it burns, how quickly it spreads, how hot it gets. Fire managers use the term “fuel loading” to categorize the amounts and types of vegetative fuels in a given area. But whether dry grasses, shrubs, dense stands of conifers or logging slash, the accumulation of fuels on the landscape reflects both the ecological processes and the cultural and social imperatives that shape land management. Fire suppression and industrialized land use, structural racial and economic disparities, residential development, roads and recreation, the support or hindrance of ecological stewardship and Indigenous fire sovereignty: all these “fuels” load onto the landscape as uneven densities, distributions and renewals.

 

As the second part of the Stories of Fire online exhibition series, FUEL LOADING showcases creative works that reckon with the accumulations of fuels in the Pacific Northwest and surrounding regions. These works engage a broad conception of fuel loading to measure the weights, densities and arrangements of fuels across ecological, social and material landscapes. They celebrate the dynamic potential of fire, while also pressing on the build-ups, sparks and residues that contribute to flammability. They attend to the fuels themselves and ask how fire and justice converge. 

“The whole earth is fuel-loaded; there is nowhere apart and smoke drifts easily across borders...”

Amiko Matsuo + Brad Monsma

Amiko Matsuo + Brad Monsma

Bat Cone Burn, pyrometric project ritual firing. final form: clay, terra sigillata, underglazes, 2014

Suze Woolf

Splintered

varnished watercolor on torn paper mounted on laser-cut polycarbonate & shaped matboard, 52in x 25in, 2023.

An ancient burned juniper from the new BLM wilderness area Oregon Badlands.

This work is presented in collaboration by:

And made possible by the generous

support of:

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Martina Shenal

clockwise from left:

Slash Piles 06, Slash Piles, Slash Piles 07, 

La Pine, Oregon, archival pigment prints, 28.25in x 22.25in, 2022

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aj miccio

Davis Burn Scar (w/detail)

ink on bristol, 11in x 14in, 2023

Lisa Cristinzo

How to write a painting

acrylic on wood panel, 36in x 48in, 2022

Eric Ondina

Nearer My God to Thee

2021

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Kate Lund

Brush Fit

rip-stop nylon, wool, flannel, fleece, 2023

Lisa Cristinzo

Marked Trail

acrylic on linen, 60in x 82in, 2023

Kelsey Grafton

Morphosis

ceramic & organic found object,

16in x 4in x 2.5in, 2019

Anne Acker-Mathieu 

Fields of Fuel

acrylic collage, 45in x 42in, 2022

Karin Bolender / Rural Alchemy Workshop (R.A.W.) 

RQP Card,

seemingly an autograph card, one of few existing pictures of the Rodeo Queen of the Pyrocene.

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Amiko Matsuo + Brad Monsma

Pyrometric Whirl

Ink, ash, medium, Phos-Chek flame retardant on paper, 84in x 40in, 2017

photo credit: Larry Lytle

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Amiko Matsuo + Brad Monsma

Pyrometric Landscape

ash, medium, Phos-Chek flame retardant on paper; 84in x 40in, 2017

photo credit: Kevin Boland

Lisa Cristinzo

Birch Bark is like Snake Skin

acrylic on wood panel, 36in x 48in, 2021

Suze Woolf

Core Values

fabric installation of knit/felted tree cores, woven ice cores, dyed and quilted sediment cores, dimensions variable, up to approx. 18 sq ft, 2023

Kelsey Grafton

Remnant

 (two views of wall piece) ceramic, 14.5in x 11.5in x 6.5in, 2020

Kelsey Grafton

Becoming

 ceramic, organic materials, found objects, and conviction,

8.3ft x 3ft x 5ft, 2021

Eric Ondina

Check

emulsion on canvas, 2021

Eric Ondina

Inferno

2020

Eric Ondina

Hot Leather 3

emulsion on board, 2020

Lisa Cristinzo

Fraternal Fire

acrylic on wood panel, 77in x 60in, 2023

Suze Woolf

Carved Out with Fire Pit

tree: Varnished watercolor on torn paper mounted on shaped Gatorboard with wood hanging cradle.

fire pit: black paper, rocks, spray-painted gas pump handle, empty propane tank, coal, insulator, corn cobs, 2022

barbed wire, model airplane, model semi-truck and model oil tanker railroad car added 2023.

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Suze Woolf

Logged, Drifted and Burned

varnished watercolor on torn paper mounted on shaped foam core with wood hanging cradle,

52in x 25in, 2023.

washed-up log found on Newskowin Beach, Oregon.

Anne Acker-Mathieu 

The Hand that Feeds You

acrylic collage, 22in x 22in, 2023

Amiko Matsuo

Zuihitsu

video of site-specific, temporary public art project, Seattle, WA, 2023

video credit: Tom Reese

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