Therese Buchmiller
Attachment | Disorder

January 6 - January 29th, 2011
Opening reception First Thursday January 6th, 6 to 9 pm. 
Saturdays noon to 5 pm and by appointment

Attachment | Disorder
Rock|DeMent visual art space is proud to present Therese Buchmiller's first Pacific Northwest solo exhibition, Attachment | Disorder. For this exhibition Buchmiller investigates the experience of identity, perception, and memory. The work presents a coded language about gender and sexual orientation by investigating the domestic and the constructed form, the natural and the fake, and the familiar vs. the unrecognizable. Buchmiller states about the work, "I've been thinking about the language of identity and the polarities of connection and otherness. This interest manifests in my work by trying to make everything fit, and yet I remain sharply aware of the task of creating a not-right rightness; the spaces between objects become paramount, allowing each component to be considered independently of others and yet seen as part of a whole." The exhibition title refers to her attachment to order, and desire to put disorder into play.

Attachment | Disorder includes installations, paintings, and collage that combine handmade and repurposed objects. Clusters of collage drawings and painted panels are contrasted by wall and table installations comprised of collections of methodically arranged repurposed objects, studies, and recycled materials. The work embraces the flawed and disregarded. For Buchmiller, mixing disparate parts and color are poetic and metaphoric means to address relatedness, connection and otherness. The work implies that there is an inherent fallibility in the language of categorizing and yet it is the means by which we make sense of ourselves in relationship to that which surrounds us.

Buchmiller received her MFA from the California College of the Arts and her BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She has had solo exhibitions in California, Minnesota, and Michigan. Buchmiller has received numerous awards including a residency at the Vermont Studio Center and a Jerome Foundation Fellowship. She was a member of the studio art faculty at the University of Minnesota, Morris between 2002-2008. Buchmiller is currently an adjunct instructor at Western Washington University and lives in Seattle. More examples of her work can be seen at www.tbuchmiller.com.

Rock|DeMent visual art space was founded by professional artists Stephen Rock and Nichole DeMent in February, 2006 as a space to exhibit, collaborate and create art. Beginning in February 2010 Rock|DeMent expanded their mission to exhibit accomplished work by adding partners to the space. In February, 2010 Therese Buchmiller was among six artists invited to further the ideas, excitement and dialogue through solo exhibitions and collaborations with plans for national and international artist/gallery exchanges.