I moved to New York City in the early 80’s with the outlandish idea of being a fashion photographer (outlandish because I began with no connections in a notoriously competitive world). Obsessed with the wildly theatrical possibilities in fashion, I was a photographer in New York City and London for 18 years, hired by Andy Warhol, and working on assignment for Vogue, British Elle, Interview, The London Sunday Times Magazine, Bomb, and others. I wanted to capture the female figure and attitude in the form of a narrative, usually fantastical and sometimes absurdist – a theme that I continued to explore when I began painting, a medium that more purely expresses my ideas.
Each painting is part of an imagined whole, similar to a frame from a film. The images are narrative and allegorical. They feature heroines and animal-heroes who balance feelings of mystery or foreboding with a sense of celebration. The women and girls have a task, an important mission. Sometimes they are activists. The narrative also suggests a sense of fun -a good foil for conflict.
The animals are similar to animal familiars; part of a person’s spirit in animal form. This kind of creature is one’s protector, and one protects it in turn. The beasts help the people survive and fulfill their quest. They have their own agenda as well, undefined but potent. There is mystery about the relationships in the paintings, as in our world. I bestow upon my characters the goodness they want, deserve or need. The images are about the hardest part of the trip; the intersection between potential and conflict.
I studied art and literature at CUNY and UC Berkeley. Born in Northern California, I spent my childhood playing for hours in the woods, making stuff in clay alongside my ceramicist mom, and creating imaginary characters. 12 years ago I moved with my family to Bend, Oregon, a town of 80,000 in the Cascades Mountains.
ARTIST RESIDENCIES AND GRANTS:
Oregon Arts Commission Grant, 2020
Hangar, Lisbon, Portugal October 2020 upcoming
Vermont Studio Center, May 2021 upcoming
Brush Creek Artist Residency, WY 2018
Kala Institute of the Arts, Berkeley, CA 2018
Playa Summer Lake, OR 2018
Djerassi Artists Program, Woodside, CA 2017
Ford Family Foundation Grant 2017
Ringholtz Award 2016
instagram: paula_bullwinkel
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PRESS REVIEWS AND INTERVIEWS:
Q&A The Bulletin (censored work), April 2019
Censorship, The Source Weekly April 2019
Exhibit review: The Bulletin April 2019
Interview Bend Magazine 2018
Cascades Arts and Entertainment Interview 2018
Review: Cosmo Ceramics, The Source, December 2017
Cascades Arts and Entertainment: Interview 2016
Political Art, group show 2017 Review
Coffee + Art + Friends: blog by Ms. Teafly 2016
instagram: paula_bullwinkel
facebook: Paula Bullwinkel Art
Select Exhibitions:
Solo: Sunday, Transmission Gallery, Oakland, CA, upcoming April/May 2021
2019 Solo: 25% Americans Approved, Franklin Crossing Atrium, Bend, OR
2020 A Generous Kingdom 4, Verum Ultimum Gallery, Portland, OR
2019 Drawing, Site:Brooklyn Gallery, Brooklyn, NY (curated by the director of The Drawing Center)
2019 Emerging, Arc Gallery, Chicago, IL
2019 Artists’ Annual Show, Kala Gallery, Berkeley, CA
2018 Déjà Vu, Bend Art Center, Bend, OR
2018 Chasing Ghosts III, Verum Ultimum Gallery, Portland, OR
2018 Prince Street Gallery, 10th Annual Nat’l Juried Exhibition, Chelsea, NYC
2018 Rise: Empower, Change and Action! Whitney Modern, Los Gatos, CA
2018 Solo, The Poet Is A Thief of Fire, Franklin Crossing, Bend, OR, April
2017 Art Department Faculty Show, paintings and glazed ceramics, COCC, Bend, OR, December
2017 Portland Art Museum Rental Sales Gallery, Fall Show, Portland, OR, November
2017 Eclipse, Bend Art Center, OR, August
2017 Portland Art Museum Rental Sales Gallery, Spring Show, Portland, OR, May
2017 HeArt of The Matter (political group art show), Franklin Crossing, Bend, February
2017 Bend Art Center / A6, “Printing The Gamut,” Bend OR
2016 Portland Art Museum Rental Sales Gallery, Fall Show, Portland, OR
2016 Ube Art, Berkeley, CA
2015 Portland Art Museum RSG, Spring show, Portland OR
2015 Solo Exhibition, Play It As It Lays, Atelier 6000, Bend, OR
2014 Solo exhibition, Hastings Cone Gallery, Vashon Island, WA
2014 Franklin Crossing, Figurative Painting, Bend, OR
2012 Beyond the Demos, Jordan Schnitzer Museum, Eugene
2011 Solo, Virginia Inn, Seattle, WA
2010 Beyond The Demos, PNCA, Portland, OR
2010 Where Are We Going, TBDloft, Bend, OR
2010 Solo, The Figure, Franklin Crossing, Bend, OR
2009 Solo, All the Fun, The Pines, Hood River, OR
2009 Double Exposure, A6 /Atelier 6000, Bend, Oregon
2009 Memento Mori, Poethouse, Bend, OR
2009 Navigator News, Sisters, OR
2008 Illustration, Atelier 6000, Bend, Oregon
2008 Tumalo Art Gallery, Bend, OR
2006 Solo, Gallery 3.5, Montclair State Univ., NJ
2005 Gallery 3.5, Montclair State University, New Jersey
2005 Women’s Resilience/Que Pasa Aqui, Montclair State, NJ
1997 Solo, Hudson Grill Gallery, New York, NY
1995 Mars Bar Gallery, New York, New York