Jason Borders

Jason Borders has been exhibiting with us since 2014 and we’ve thoroughly enjoyed watching his work grow in prominence both locally and further afield. His story is a truly compelling example of what can happen when you take a chance on a new place and throw yourself wholeheartedly into the experience. Jason started out in Portland showing his work independently at Last Thursday, an un-juried, no-fee, deeply democratic event which happens monthly on Alberta Street where our gallery is located. In a bizarre twist of fate both he and our gallery were featured in the same arts magazine blog simultaneously and that’s how we made a connection. Jason’s work is created through a process of carving and inking bone, and more recently wood, to tell flowing, free-form narratives dancing across their surface.

“My work is a form of self-hypnosis. It’s a way of turning off cognitive thought and simply reacting. Its very meditative. It is escapism, though in a certain sense, it’s a form of hyper-existence- of living purely in the moment. In this way the work becomes a method of overcoming fears. That said, a large part of what I do involves a familiarization with death. My belief is that, as painful as it can be, looking directly at death helps you to live your life with intent and purpose. In this light, the work I do delves into a place where the lines between life, death, fantasy and reality are blurred.”