Sea of Vapors

Emily Counts

November 1, 2024-February 9, 2025
First Saturday Artist Reception: Nov 2, 5-8pm

Curated by Blake Shell

Oregon Contemporary presents Emily Counts: Sea of Vapors. The exhibition is part of Site, a series of site-specific large-scale solo exhibitions by artists of the Pacific Northwest. 

Sea of Vapors invites you in, drawing you to the circle of figures gathering and unifying their shared energy, and to the realm of the Wizard Queen. Dreamy, trippy characters bring joy and offer a wink and nod to the magic and symbols throughout Emily Counts’s created world. We are having fun here, the figures seem to say; it’s safe for us all to have fun here. We're leaving the planet and you can come.*

You don’t have to know the artist’s personal references to feel their resonance. A matrilineal heritage unfolds within the figures, linking histories of women who have passed away and passed on wisdom to Emily. Each figure is a composite of traits from those personal heroes who have informed her as an artist, as a thinker, and as a human. Poppy, vivid colors and elemental symbols are shown removed from context, while animal familiars gather. Human-animal-supernatural interconnections are made visible but remain mysterious. Each viewer brings their own story to these prompts. But that isn’t to say that there isn’t a point of view in the work. Audiences express that they feel seen and see others reflected in her work. One piece by Emily gives me a distinct sensation of my home in the ’90s—watching my mother deftly remove a clip-on earring while twisting a ten-foot phone cord into the pantry to chat with a friend. Emily’s figures embody contemporary female archetypes in a power stance with legs apart, exuding power without control or violence. There exists a palpable tenderness, passion, and magic in their presence.

This inclusive exploration of femininity—mystifying and carefree, ethereal and symbolic, personal and universal—is not inherently political. Yet, in this season and this year, the joyful and loving expression of the feminine and queer does feel political. Power, as a form of glamour, expressed through costume and playfulness, serves as a political stance for our community, inviting all to share their energy and love.You are invited.

-Blake Shell

*Reference to a lyric from Chappell Roan’s “Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl”

Emily Counts, born in Seattle, WA, where she currently resides and works, is a multidisciplinary artist whose work has been exhibited nationally at prominent institutions such as Oregon Contemporary, the Museum of Arts and Design in New York, and the Torrance Art Museum in California. In Washington, her work has been shown at the Bellevue Arts Museum. A BFA graduate from California College of the Arts, Counts has received several prestigious grants, including those from Artist Trust, the Oregon Arts Commission, the Regional Arts & Culture Council, and The Ford Family Foundation. Her residency experience includes programs at Raid Projects in Los Angeles, Plane Space in New York, and the Varda Artists Residency in Sausalito, CA. She is currently represented by studio e gallery in Washington and Nationale in Oregon.

The Site program is supported by the Henry Lea Hillman, Jr. Foundation. Oregon Contemporary is supported by The Ford Family Foundation, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the James F. & Marion L. Miller Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Regional Arts & Culture Council. Oregon Contemporary also receives support from the Oregon Arts Commission, a state agency funded by the State of Oregon and the National Endowment for the Arts. Other businesses and individuals provide additional support.