July/ August 2019 - Mirra Meyer Batik

Mirra Meyer
untitled - Totem
batik
36 1/2" x 15 1/4"

Mirra's son Jarrett will be in attendance to speak about his Mother's work

Artist's CV

Mirra Meyer
Breakthrough, 1982
batik
12 1/2" x 10 1/2"

Mirra Meyer
untitled - Figures, 1982
batik
11 1/4" x 12 1/4"

Michael Parsons Fine Art

716 S.W. Madison

Portland, OR 97205

Phone 503-206-8601

Gallery Hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 12pm-5pm

E-Mail: michaelparsonsfineart@gmail.com

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Instagram: @michaelparsons_fineart

Mirra Meyer
untitled - Abstract Blues, 1981
batik
15 1/2" x 9"

Mirra Meyer
untitled - Tree#6
batik
34 1/2" x 16 1/4"

Mirra's son Jarrett will be in attendance to speak about his Mother's work

We are pleased to showcase the highly original, modernist Batiks of Oregon artist, Mirra Meyer (1942-2019). Meyer was a successful, multi-faceted artist active in the 1970s and 80s, who adapted the batik medium to create dramatic abstracts and landscapes, in particular the depiction of trees, as representations of life. Batik, or resist-dye involves applying design in wax before dyeing fabric. The wax resists the dye while the dye process can be repeated to create multiple shades of color.

Raised on farms in Iowa and Missouri, Meyer received her BS in Art Education in 1963 from NE Missouri State College. In 1969 she moved to Portland where she continued to study art and arts management at varying institutions throughout her life. Travels in the 1990s to Australia, and the study of the unusual shapes of the eucalyptus tree, and its relationship to the human form, informed her interest in the tree form.

In addition to her artistic career, Mirra was a leading arts advocate and arts manager, helping to found the Oregon Designer-Craftsmen's Guild and serving on the board of the Oregon Advocates for the Arts and Oregon Artists' Equity. She also held numerous arts management positions over the years. As Community Development Director for the Arizona Arts Commission (1985-89), she helped communities all over the state with local arts projects and arts elements of infrastructure. She later served as Executive Director of Portland's downtown art festival Artquake (1991-92), and as the director of the Historic Cemeteries program for the Oregon State Historic Preservation Office. Meyer’s batiks have been exhibited at major galleries nationally, as well as throughout Oregon. This exhibition includes a selection of Meyer’s batiks along with a series etchings.

Meyer's work has been an interesting discovery for us, and we find it to be beautiful. We hope that you will come to feel this way as well.

What is Batik?