when we dead awaken II
September 22, 2016
Critics are praising Elizabeth Malaska's new show of paintings at Nationale, when we dead awaken II. The title is drawn from a 1972 essay by Adrienne Rich in which the poet "makes the argument that women need to find a way to write with their own voices, unburdened by the male-dominant narrative that is embedded in the canon," writer Patrick Collier notes. Sara Sentilles writes a compelling essay for the catalogue for the exhibition that was supported by a grant from the Regional Arts and Culture Council. She notes, "In 'Some of Us Did Not Die,' a woman sits on a pastel quilted blanket – pink and blue and yellow and purple, hearts in its corners – her dark hair piled on her head, grey hair falling in her face, two arms by her sides, a third raised in a defiant fist, her eyes looking out as if she could look through the viewer to the world that will come next, the world she and the other women in these canvases will make, the world Malaska will paint."
Malaska earned her MFA in Visual Studies from PNCA in 2011. Most recently, she was honored with a 2016 Individual Artist Fellowship through the Oregon Arts Commission.
when we dead awaken II is on view through October 10, 2016.