A Bunch of

Fucking Pansies

A solo exhibition with

Violet Aveline

Violet Aveline graduated from Herron School of Art and Design in 2006 but has been making art long before she began her schooling. She currently resides in Portland, Oregon, painting, skating, and playing with her family in the forests.

“I collect myths and legends and try to retell them through art and design. Sometimes the stories are large and leviathan gods walk over mountains, and others are small like the ones your grandma used to tell.

I have especially been fascinated with tales of death and trickster gods. As a kid I made altars to gods I couldn't name and plays with ghouls and creeps and in the end everyone dies. My current work is a direct extension of those childhood pursuits.

I grew up with these idioms as a kid. I was kicked off a school bus for saying one of them. They were all a balance of insult and a dare. There are so many sound logical reasons to stay and live a safe and happy life. I would prefer otherwise. I want to live a life that challenges and frustrates me. I want to live a life that allows me to grow and push my boundaries and I know that I am not alone in this.

These mountains are based on a meditation of that ethos and a way to recognize those others that died pushing their minds and bodies to their limits.

The pansies are an ode to my great grandmother and namesake Violet Hutchison. It was her favorite flower and they are small unassuming flowers but so hardy I find myself unable to kill them with my neglect.

Pansies and pussies are thrown around like taunts but I would rather see them as symbols of survival and daring creation.”

In Loving Memory of

Diana Marie Aveline

In the event of suddenly and unexpectedly losing her mother just days before the scheduled opening of this show, Violet chose to continue on with it as planned. In her eyes these pieces have morphed into a very fitting memorial for the fierce and incredibly loving and talented human that was her mother.

The pieces created for this exhibition were originally meant as a celebration of the idea that, in the artist’s own words, “We are hardy badasses and [should] live life all the way, that there is no tragedy in a death that is the result of the active pursuit in living.”

This show is comprised of radiant & dreamy original paintings depicting some of the most deadly mountains that have ever been climbed. Each of the 5 larger mountain paintings features a body count in the top right corner, paying tribute to those who died pushing themselves to the limit while doing what they loved. In addition to the paintings, there are an assortment of 6-color screen prints boasting familiar idioms from Violet’s childhood (that come straight from her mother’s mouth). The blunt roughness of the words in the foreground are softened by the bright, assorted rainbow of pansies in the background of each print.

“[This show] started as a meditation on the violence needed to create these stoic [mountain] peaks. A portrait of pain. Now it is a metaphor to my mother's life of pain, struggle, loss, and injustice. Her sincere belief that she was not enough. [My mother, like my grandmother] also planted pansies and she made the best Halloween costumes. She danced to Black Sabbath, ACDC, Cheap Trick, and so many more until her sweat flew. In her rock and roll strength she also cared for the little things that couldn't speak for themselves. With age she grew stronger and gained a flexibility in spirit that people many years her junior would envy. She loved the daredevils. In her memory I will dare. Mom, you were a badass bitch from hell, thank you for passing that down to me and my sister.”

Rest in Power Diana Marie Aveline