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Art Installation by Portland Cherokee Artist Brenda Mallory

The Armory will host Recurring Chapters in the Book of Inevitable Outcomes, an art installation by Brenda Mallory, a local artist and member of the Cherokee Nation. 

Jan. 11 - May 18, 2018

In 1838, the Cherokee People were forcibly and illegally removed from their homelands in the southeast United States and resettled in northeastern Oklahoma. Some remained in the original lands (either by returning or hiding during the round up). Created in response to the removal of the Cherokee people, Brenda Mallory’s installation entitled Recurring Chapters in the Book of Inevitable Outcomes consists of tall shapes made of waxed cloth and steel that resemble charred timbers or skeletal plant stalks surrounded by colorful, lively spore-like forms. The ruin-like floor pieces speak to what was left behind, but the resilience and hope shows in the spore-like forms that scatter across the walls and floor like blowing seeds. Her work is inspired by a rereading of Cherokee history, and addresses ideas of disruption, repair and renewal. 

Recurring Chapters in the Book of Inevitable Outcomes is installed on the Lower Level of The Armory, and accessible any time the building is open. The installation will remain through the run of And So We Walked

About the Artist

Brenda Mallory (Cherokee Nation) is a Portland-based artist whose work ranges from individual wall-hangings and sculptures to large-scale installations. She works with mixed media, mining natural and found materials to create multiple forms that are joined with crude hardware or mechanical devices to imply tenuous connections and aberration. She is interested in ideas of interference and disruptions in systems of nature and human cultures. A resident of Portland for many years, Mallory grew up in Oklahoma and is a member of the Cherokee Nation. She has a BA in Linguistics & English from UCLA and a BFA from Pacific Northwest College of Art. Mallory has received awards from the Oregon Arts Commission, Ford Family Foundation, and Regional Arts & Culture Council and Crow’s Shadows Institute of Art. She was a 2015 Eiteljorg Contemporary Native Artist Fellow, was awarded a 2016 Native Arts and Culture Foundation Fellow in Visual Arts, and is a Mentor in the MFA Applied Craft and Design Program at PNCA+OCAC. brendamallory.com



We at The Armory humbly acknowledge that the Portland metropolitan area rests on the traditional village sites of the Multnomah, Wasco, Cowlitz, Kathlamet, Clackamas, Bands of Chinook, Tualatin Kalapuya, Molalla and many other Tribes who made their homes along the Columbia (Wimahl) and Willamette (Whilamut) rivers. Today, Portland’s diverse and vibrant Native communities are 70,000 strong, descended from more than 380 tribes, both local and distant. We take this opportunity to offer respectful recognition to the Native communities in our region today, and to those who have stewarded this land throughout the generations.

Portland Center Stage is committed to identifying & interrupting instances of racism & all forms of oppression, through the principles of inclusion, diversity, equity, & accessibility (IDEA).

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