Chefas Projects is thrilled to present the return of Portland painter Emily Wise with her latest collection of work Hair of the Banshee. Inspired by myth-making and the relationships women build with themselves and each other, Wise uses the act of painting as a way to imagine, explore, and interrogate the existence of a sacred feminine space. Bursting with an electric palette of lush, perhaps imagined botanicals, bodies and landscapes, her paintings explode with dizzying layers of detail aimed to access invisible realms through familiar forms. In each body of work, Wise weaves a surreal, overarching narrative as the viewer follows her protagonists on their journey of self through otherworldly terrain.
In Hair of the Banshee, Wise invites the viewer on a surreal journey alongside three sisters as they venture into uncharted territory in their quest for answers to the long-standing mysteries that have haunted their family for generations.
Growing up amidst the captivating tales spun by their grandmother, the sisters were immersed in the lore of banshees—a distant echo of their heritage. However, with their grandmother's passing, a lingering question persists: was she merely the guardian of these Irish legends, or could she have been the very banshee she so vividly described?
Driven by the unmistakable scent of canned sloppy joe (a dish their grandmother could never master) and the distant melody of a solitary harmonica, the women slowly approach the enigmatic border that separates myth from reality, where the spirit of their grandmother now resides.
