Artist Statement
Twenty years ago, in Tokyo, I stepped into a freshly cut, monumental bamboo installation created by Hiroshi Teshigahara. In that moment I experienced a palpable elevation, the sense of deep order and connection present in a sanctuary or sacred place. Since then bamboo has enchanted me, as it has artists and artisans for thousands of years.
My work interweaves scale and proportion—thin, medium and thick crosscut bamboo sections, the interplay of light and shadow—to create living topographies. My long immersion in Japanese aesthetics guides me as I work intuitively, following a path of discovery.
In developing the crosscut bamboo technique, I am contributing a new approach to a venerable material. Deconstructing bamboo into crosscut slices reveals its cellular makeup and illuminates its natural beauty and strength. Assembling the pieces allows patterns and rhythms to emerge that reflect the interconnection of forces in nature, from microscopic life to wave movement. Interconnectedness is the source, the revelation, and the energy I seek to express in all of my work.
Background
Anne holds a bachelor of arts from Scripps College and a master of arts in liberal studies from Reed College, as well as a teaching credential from University of California, Berkeley. She is a member of the first graduating class of the MFA program in Applied Craft and Design from Oregon College of Art and Craft + Pacific Northwest College of Art.
Her wide-ranging arts administration and curatorial experience includes professional and volunteer work, primarily at Contemporary Crafts, Portland Center for the Visual Arts, and the Portland Art Museum. In June 2010 she interned with Doug and Mike Starn on the acclaimed Big Bambú installation on the roof of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Anne has been a student of Ikebana for over 15 years. Her passion for travel, exploration and learning has taken her throughout Asia, Europe, Africa and South America. She credits experiences in Japan as a profound influence on her art and life.
Anne received the American Bamboo Society 2012 Arts and Crafts Award.
Jimin Lee, Studio Assistant
I was born and raised in Seoul, South Korea. Being an only child, I spent a great deal of time solitarily surrounded by piles of collected poems and novels belonging to my parents. Almost everyday I opened a literary work and absorbed a word or two, or even a sentence, and began drawing whatever I felt in a sketchbook. My insatiable curiosity led me to study drawing and painting, and I came to the United States in my early 20s to follow my dream of becoming a painter. I started taking painting classes at Portland Community College, however, when I touched clay, it became my primary material as a way to talk to people. When I transferred to the Oregon College of Art and Craft to pursue pottery, I met Thomas Orr. Through his advice, I was able to start to open up my eyes and mind, and even face myself.
In 2017, I completed a year-long Emerging Artist Mentorship Program (EAMP) at Ash Street Project (ASP) in Portland, Oregon run by Thomas Orr. Through this program, I moved towards new ways of expressing my narrative voice and had my first solo show. Soon after joining the Oregon Potters Association (OPA) in 2013, I began participating in the Ceramics Showcase, and my work was selected for display at the governor’s mansion in Salem, Oregon where it’s been housed since 2016. I now maintain an active studio practice and exhibit nationally, and am fortunate to have my functional and sculptural works in a number of regional collections.
Since 2011, I have worked part-time as the studio assistant for Anne F. Crumpacker. We collaborate on the design and creation of works of art with bamboo as our primary medium, and with powder-coated aluminum and glass luminaries as a new medium featuring the bamboo art aesthetic. Currently, we are creating works of art for a public meditation space focused on themes of kindness, compassion, and interconnectedness.
Collections
Hard Rock Hotel, Maldives
Art in Embassy program, US State Department. Laos
Matakauri Lodge, New Zealand
The Peloton, Portland, Oregon
The N-V, Portland, Oregon
The ARRAS, Bellevue, Washington
Private collections in California, Florida, Idaho, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Oregon, Washington