Elmeater Morton

USA, b. 1959, Portland, OR. Lives and works in Portland, OR.

Elmeater Morton: One more, and that’s all: Artists of North Pole Studio + Elbow Room

Aug 27 - Oct 4

Oregon Contemporary

8371 N Interstate Ave, Portland, OR 97217

Fri – Sun: 12:00 - 5:00 PM

About the Project

Michelle Fromme contributes work to One more, and that's all, a group exhibition at Oregon Contemporary curated by Lumi Tan. North Pole Studio and Elbow Room are Portland art studios dedicated to supporting the professional careers of artists with autism and intellectual or developmental disabilities. The exhibition features paintings, drawings, and sculpture from artists associated with both organizations, serving as a warm introduction to their unique perspectives, persistence, and long-standing presence in Portland’s creative landscape.

Artist Bio

Elmeater Morton gradually developed her practice as an artist at progressive art programs in Portland (Project Grow, Art From the Heart, Public Annex, & PALS), cultivating the kind of compositional confidence and gestural integrity possessed by master painters and veteran school teachers wielding red pens. The distance between imagination and image, between thought and expression is a turbulent and often challenging, intimidating, and indecisive space for artists, especially those who express abstractly and gesturally. In moments of creative expression, Elmeater casually inhabits this creative space with grace, diligence, and composure. She is casually and sometimes smugly productive, generating masterpieces and cohesive bodies of work without breaking a sweat.

Place, family and relationships are common themes informing Elmeater’s body of abstract work. Her dense paintings are composed of layers of scratchy, repetitive marks that seem to reflect the weight of emotional mileposts as she captures the historic landscapes of her past. Her recent experiments in fiber and collage playfully expand on her paintings and drawings in their jarring layered juxtapositions, surprising humor, and bold use of uncommon materials.

She announces definitively when a piece is done. Long, descriptive, and sometimes surprising titles punctuate the completion of an artwork. Other artists in the throes of their own creative journey at Elbow Room take note. “One more, and that’s all.” Elmeater says, “And tomorrow is my day-off.”