Opie Snow Lael ~ Artist ~ Designer

BIO

Opie Snow was born in Ashland, Oregon. She studied fine arts at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon and University of Oregon in Eugene. After receiving her Bachelor of Fine Arts with a painting emphasis from the University of Oregon in 1998, Opie traveled to Europe to research master painter techniques. On her return to Ashland, she spent a year studying classical drawing and painting with Semyon Bilmes of the Academy of Fine Arts.

In 2000, she co-founded Nuwandart Gallery in Ashland, Oregon, continuing to curate and exhibit there until 2003. Opie created costume design, installation work and performance art/dance with El Circo, an Art/Performance Collective based in San Francisco from 2001-2007. During that time, she started including texture and multi-media in her Ikebana inspired paintings; figurative florals on textured, sewn canvas which are stretched onto brushed metal frames. She began exhibiting up and down the west coast from Los Angeles to Portland.

In 2007 Opie Snow joined forces with Micah..Blacklight and moved to Brooklyn, New York to further her art career. In 2009 she and Micah created the collaboration called BlackSnow, a fine art, couture fashion, and multi-media company. BlackSnow had their debut show at IcoSahedron Gallery in New York City in 2010.

From 2011-2015 her work involving mythical figures, explored the experience of the feminine through the evolution of sexuality, power, demonization, oppression, liberation and redefinition.

She is living and painting in Oregon with her family but often travels to New York (and other places around the world) for inspiration, connection and fun. She is currently immersed in two very different series,  Steadfast – her figurative work which explore the complexities of being a woman in today’s times,  and Black Ochre – which is a new and passionate realm of expression for her where she is experimenting with emotive and design oriented abstracts. 

STATEMENT

My current series, Steadfast, explores deeply feminine and fiercely strong human figures who are vulnerable yet unyielding. The work is aimed at challenging the viewer to consider feminine bravery and strength. The paintings are comprised mostly of broad, loose brush strokes, with finer detail around the face and sometimes hands, inviting the viewer to create an emotional connection, to reach beneath the outer experience, the visual noise of the external world into one’s memories, challenges, and humanity.

Although my work has evolved over time, a consistent thread is the centering of opposites, balance in the midst of tension, light in the midst of darkness, living on the edge of pain with beauty, grace and strength. I connect to a wildness that I feel is often shamed or suppressed. My paintings reflect my experience as a woman foremost but also as a human being, navigating and understanding myself within this world. My work mirrors my challenges, growth, and transformations. It’s a means of connection. It’s a means of reflection.

I use oil paint on canvas. I like to paint on big canvases in large brush strokes, splatters, and drips, conveying the mood and movement of my body through the brushstrokes. The messiness lends itself to the rawness of the experience while the tight focused areas reveal my intent. I paint human figures because they are an immediate connection for me, for my audience, and because I love to study the structures of face and form.

STATEMENT

My current series, Steadfast, explores deeply feminine and fiercely strong human figures who are vulnerable yet unyielding. The work is aimed at challenging the viewer to consider feminine bravery and strength. The paintings are comprised mostly of broad, loose brush strokes, with finer detail around the face and sometimes hands, inviting the viewer to create an emotional connection, to reach beneath the outer experience, the visual noise of the external world into one’s memories, challenges, and humanity.

Although my work has evolved over time, a consistent thread is the centering of opposites, balance in the midst of tension, light in the midst of darkness, living on the edge of pain with beauty, grace and strength. I connect to a wildness that I feel is often shamed or suppressed. My paintings reflect my experience as a woman foremost but also as a human being, navigating and understanding myself within this world. My work mirrors my challenges, growth, and transformations. It’s a means of connection. It’s a means of reflection.

I use oil paint on canvas. I like to paint on big canvases in large brush strokes, splatters, and drips, conveying the mood and movement of my body through the brushstrokes. The messiness lends itself to the rawness of the experience while the tight focused areas reveal my intent. I paint human figures because they are an immediate connection for me, for my audience, and because I love to study the structures of face and form.

CV

Education

Academy of Fine Arts, Classical Drawing and Painting, Jacksonville, Oregon 2000
Bachelor of Fine Arts, BFA in Painting, University of Oregon 1998
Universidad Autónoma “Benito Juárez” de Oaxaca, Oacaxa, Mexico 1995
Lewis & Clark College, Portland, OR 1994

Exhibitions

Online Exhibits and Private Curated Web Galleries during COVID, Artist Archive & Personal Site 2020-2022
Haines and Friends Awardee Exhibit, Ashland Springs Hotel, Ashland, OR, 2018
Zilla, Portland, OR, 2010-2015
BlackSnow Volume I, Ico Gallery. 606 W. 26th St, New York, NY, 2010
Urban Roots, Saint Marks Church, New York, NY, 2009
Collage, COSM Gallery, New York, NY, 2008
Mura, Brooklyn, NY, 2008 – 2010
Group Exibit, Studio 333, Sausalito, CA, 2008
Best of the Bay, Artists Alley, San Francisco, CA, 2007
Group Exibit, Studio 333, Sausalito, CA, 2007
Art in Bloom, The Rogue Gallery, Medford, OR, 2007
Permanent Collection, Decomposition, Zilla, Portland, OR, 2007-2008
Woven Sky, Supper Club, San Francisco, CA, 2007
Permanent Collection, Decomposition, The River House, Yachats, OR, 2006-2008
Permanent Collection, Agave, Decomposition, Ashland, OR, 2005-2008
4 Seed Revolution, Melissa Cooley Studio, Ashland, OR, 2005
Decomposition, Gallery 135, Jacksonville OR, 2005
Decomposition, Fred Segal, Los Angeles, CA, 2005
Vital, Multi-Media Event, Los Angeles, CA 2004
Burn the Box, Multi-Media Event, Whisper Night Club, San Francisco, CA, 2004
Interpretations of Ikebana: Expressions of Decomposition, Nuwandart Gallery, Ashland, Or, 2003
Dreams & Wire, Accents Gallery, Ashland, OR, 2003
Boxed Women, Accents Gallery, Ashland, OR, 2002
Metamorphosis, Nuwandart Gallery, Ashland, OR, 2001
Not So Mellow Yellow, Nuwandart Gallery, Ashland OR, 2001
Colors and Textures: Highland People, Nuwandart Gallery, Ashland, Or, 2000
The Body – An Installation Collaboration, Nuwandart Gallery, Ashland, OR, 2000

Related Projects

Co-owner/creator, designer, artist, BlackSnow. New York 2010-2011
Co-creator, designer, performer, installations, El Circo, Ashland, OR, 2001-2004, San Francisco, CA, 2005-2007
Artistic Creator, Permanent Collection, Agave, Ashland, Oregon 2005
Co-owner/curator, Nuwandart Gallery, Ashland, OR 2000

Articles

“BlackSnow Reign” – 21 Weeks, New York, NY October 2010
“Art in Bloom’s 2007 People’s Choice Winners” – Medford Mail Tribune, Medford, OR, May 2007
“Where Art Meets Food” – Ashland Magazine, Summer 2005
“An Artistic Reconstruction”, Main Tribune, Medford, OR, July 2005
“Nuwandart, Celebration Gallery Opening”, Revels, Ashland, OR April 2000

Awards and Honors

Haines and Friends Fund – Art Grant, Ashland, OR, October 2022
Haines and Friends Fund – Art Grant, Ashland, OR, October 2017
“People’s Choice Award” – The Rogue Gallery, Art in Bloom Festival. First Prize Award and Purchase of winning painting by City of Medford for permanent colletion. May 2007
“Favorite Local Artist” – Sneak Preview, The Best of Ashland, Ashland, OR, Feb 2007
Honorable Mention – Sneak Preview, The Best of Ashland, Ashland, OR, Feb 2006
“Must See” Award – Passport 2, Ashland, OR, June 2004

Contributions

KS WIld Auction, Ashland, OR 2005/2006/2008/2010
Hurricane Katrina Rock Art Relief, Los Angeles, CA 2005