Blair Saxon-Hill was born in 1979 in Eugene, Oregon and studied studio art at Reed College. She has lived and worked in Portland, Oregon for over 15 years. Working across mediums, she creates figurative assemblages that are pedestrian and raw, turning the viewer to a visceral material world of paint and matter to register current cultural and political realities. Saxon-Hill has been awarded fellowships from the Joan Mitchell Foundation, the Oregon Arts Commission, and the Hallie Ford Foundation. Her work has been exhibited at JOAN in Los Angeles, VENUS Over Los Angeles, Maccarone LA, the Hallie Ford Museum, Disjecta and Artist Curated Projects. Saxon-Hill's work has been reviewed in numerous arts’ publications and her two recent solo exhibitions received ArtForum Critics’ Picks. Saxon-Hill's solo exhibition was presented by Nino Mier Gallery in December 2018. Publications with Soberscove Press and Colpa are forthcoming.
"As an artist, I act as a researcher, a wanderer, a hunter, an irreverent butcher, a matchmaker, a gambler, and a psychic. I respond to this remarkable world by continuing to collect from its deep pools of value and disregard with the aim of sincerely reformulating the bizarre, subtle, elegant, broken, and in love to focus on the humanity of our time in this grotesque political climate. The cast of characters I have developed over the last few years are queer, surreal, humorous, gritty, and urgent. The sculptures anticipate their relationship to a staged performance and work to ensure that they are capable of conversing with the daily news in installation. At times the figurative assemblages are marching in protest around gallery walls or otherwise are organized as a pedestrian frieze. Adding to dimension, the sculptures can be ‘read’ and further understood through the distinct material lists for each piece which are often long and poetic as they name selected finery and detritus alongside more traditional studio materials." - Blair Saxon-Hill
