"To many, collage fails to impress. It's piecemeal ingredients suggest a crafty exercise, a weekend jaunt with paper, scissors and glue. But Eunice Parsons may change some of those minds with her show at Willamette University's Hallie Ford Museum of Art.
Parson's collages are anything but simple. They're complexly constructed works infused with many art historical references that you'd expect of someone whose career spans much of modern and contemporary art. Parsons was born in 1916. Yet those influences are never at the expense of the artist's subdued visual splendor. Her collages have grace.
Parsons has been in Portland since the 1930s and has had numerous solo exhibitions in Oregon. The small group of collages at Hallie Ford is the latest welcome reminder of her consistency and facility.
In a 2005 review of a Parsons show, Oregonian contributor Victoria Blake wrote, "Parsons understands that collage, like life, is an art of imperfection, of the torn edge and the spot of glue. The potential for biting humor is here, and sentiment, as well as a good deal of judiciously used smarts. Parsons has all of these, but she has grace, too, and the ability to recognize the chance encounter for what it is: potential in its purist form."
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