Intimate Ecologies
at Lavaun’s Community Gallery within Alberta Street Gallery
in Portland, Oregon
Opening reception | March 26, 6-9p
Run | March 26-April 27
Intimate Ecologies explores themes of migration, dislocation, ritual, and the relationship between people and place. It invites meditations on slowness, embodiment, and stewardship as mediums for reciprocal practices which reinforce solidarity with the natural world and all its inhabitants.
The threads connecting each of these Portland-based artists beyond intersecting palettes and affects relate to their practices: each one of them incorporating various aspects of embodiment and ecological connection into their practice.
Download the show materials to learn more about the artists and their work. Standard artist bios available below.
Stephanie Adams-Santos
Stephanie Adams-Santos is a Guatemalan-American interdisciplinary artist writer whose work spans poetry, prose, screenwriting, and illustration. Their work reflects a fascination with the weird, numinous, and primal forces that shape inner life. They are the author of several full-length poetry collections and chapbooks, including Dream of Xibalba (selected by Jericho Brown as winner of the 2021 Orison Poetry Prize; finalist for a 2024 Oregon Book Award and Lambda Literary Award) and Swarm Queen’s Crown (finalist for a 2016 Lambda Literary Award). Stephanie served as Staff Writer and Story Editor on the television anthology horror series Two Sentence Horror Stories (CW/Netflix), winner of a 2022 Gold Telly Award in TV Writing. Stephanie has received screenwriting fellowships from The Gotham, Sundance, Film Independent, and Ojalá/Universal. They are also a recipient of the Miller Foundation Spark Award for Oregon artists. Most recently, Stephanie wrote for the new season of Nocturno, a Latinx horror radio anthology hosted by Danny Trejo for iHeart Radio. In addition to their literary work, Stephanie is creating an original tarot deck that blends poetry, animism, and ancestral magic. Learn more about Stephanie at @tarot_obscuro on Instagram
ari albertson
ari lynn albertson is an interdisciplinary artist working in portland, oregon. their practice incorporates sound, sculpture, installation, and other media. current areas of interest include collective experience, dancing, hybridity + betweenity, webs + spirals, flow states, and other things. Learn more about ari at @aalblynn on Instagram
Kobey Bonin
Kobey Bonin is a Portland based artist, working within themes of disability and self-expression. Kobey has a BS in Liberal Studies from Oregon State University (2021), a BFA in Intermedia Art from Pacific Northwest College of Art (2024), and is pursuing a joint MA/MFA in Critical Studies and Print Media at PNCA. Kobey’s work is primarily concerned with their experience with progressive neuromuscular disease. Their work frequently contends with grief for lost bodily function, strong feelings of frustration and anger, notions of disabled joy, and more recently, the intimacy of care and platonic relationships. Learn more about Kobey at @kobeybonincreative on Instagram
Limei Lei
“On top of a chaotic, messy, tangled, frayed, knotted forest of seemingly random threads, tapestry finds order and beauty, much like art and life.”
Limei Lai is an installation artist who combines mixed media interactive visual art,writing, and performative movement to reflect on her life between two cultures. She is curious about how memories are transformed into visual forms and movements. She researches Asian American history and conducts live interviews with Asian immigrant women in the community. Her work focuses on women’s life experiences, intergenerational communications, and cultural conflicts.
Limei grew up in an embroidery community in a small village in Southeastern China. She was the founder and curator of Playground Gallery and the vice-president of Oregon Chinese Artist Association, featured artist at Blackfish Gallery. Her works were shown in Corvallis Arts Center, Newport Visual Arts Center, Ashland Fiber Arts Collective, Portland Chinatown Museum, Paragon Gallery, Local 14 Art Show, Lansu Garden, The Place, PNCA, PSU, Playground Gallery, Red E Cafe Gallery, ELLE Gallery, and Blackfish Gallery. Limei lives with her daughter in Portland, Oregon. Learn more about Limei at @limeilai81981 on Instagram
Robin Sola
Robin is a trans potter, musician, and Red Cross worker based in northern Vermont. They create ceramics, music, and tools for inner reflection. Through their YouTube channel, Sound Cove, they share guided meditation tracks, and their small business, Dream Magick, offers herbal teas designed to support dreaming and deeper rest. Learn more about Robin at dreammagick.com
Sequoia Snogren-McGinnis
Intimate Ecologies made possible by the generous extension of Lavaun’s community gallery space by Alberta Street gallery member, Carisa Miller.