Portland Mural Masters Shine at Hopscotch’s Immersive Exhibit
PORTLAND, OREGON
PSAA is thrilled to announce our participation in the “Walls Within” Mural Room at Portland’s new immersive art gallery, Hopscotch. Over the past two months, Portland-based artists David Rice, Francisco Morales, The Earwig, and Winston the Whale have been hard at work completing their inaugural murals at Hopscotch. From painterly to graphic, graffiti style to illustrative, each massive mural perfectly encapsulates the artist's style, allowing visitors a little slice of Portland street art in every visit.
David Rice’s mural, titled “New Topography” took his portrait style to new heights on a massive wall. In his smaller canvas work, David is known for his use of light that seems to magically illuminate and shadow every crevice of his paintings. He aspires to create works that exist beyond our physical world; his paintings often evoking a dream-like sensation.
“This piece is an exploration of identity through nature and man made elements. Exploring the diverse topography of what makes an individual unique, and how that makeup is always changing.” – David Rice
ABOUT DAVID RICE
Francisco’s work as a Chicano artist is informed by the struggles and triumphs of their community. Francisco’s current works are an exploration of Chicano identity and the use of language as a tool of exploitation, specifically the language found in marketing and advertising geared towards the latin consumer. His work also celebrates the richness and diversity of Chicano culture, by breaking stereotypes and exploring new possibilities for the community.
“These policies and interventions have been major catalysts for people’s decisions to move North in hopes of finding better opportunities in the US. These migrations have created new generations of latines with one foot in two worlds. One being their collective heritage and history as well as their new identity as transplants to a new land and way of life. These migrations have also been met with discrimination and marginalization, as citizens of the US push back against the increase of peoples from south of the border. The discrimination received is oftentimes propagated by predatory language, imagery and products that are used to market to Latin Americans and Chicanos.” – Francisco Morales.
ABOUT FRANCISCO MORALES
The Earwig is a legend in the graffiti scene near and far. Their work is always fresh, with sharp crisp wildstyle letters that come from decades of practice and experience. The Earwig’s characters dominate walls in Portland and beyond. The Earwig feels most passionate about being connected to their environment, particularly being immersed in the chaos of city circumstances. They are very passionate about staying true to the root of whatever they do. Over the years, they have worked with numerous galleries, high profile celebrities, but the most important thing to them is staying connected to the local community via their art.
“The Oracle is your intuition that is a channel to your higher being. Know Thyself.” – The Earwig
ABOUT THE EARWIG
On any given day in Portland you may run into Winston the Whale’s work. His iconic whale sticker can be seen all across the city and globe. Winston is known worldwide for his colorful and very sought after tattoos that incorporate crisp, clean lines, trippy visuals, and super colorful graphics.
He has expertly transferred this unique style onto the wall for his Hopscotch mural. With this piece, Winston the Whale’s intention was to represent the flow and interconnectivity between humans, nature and technology. Winston sees many parallels between the intelligence of nature, the human mind and computers/technology. They used shapes, movement and elements to pull those parallels together in one piece.
ABOUT WINSTON THE WHALE
ADDTIONAL PHOTOS
Photos: Sara Sjol