Koplin Del Rio is pleased to present The Language of Place; a survey of paintings by Portland, Oregon based artist Michelle Muldrow spanning from 2006 - 2021. Comprising examples from several bodies of work, the paintings in The Language of Place present a chronology of the artists' continued examination of the landscape and its physical and symbolic implications.

Every series in Muldrow’s work begins as a conversation with her surrounding environment, employing the landscape genre as a template through which to interpret and examine natural, and man-made surroundings and the histories, illusions & myths contained therein. Through this lens, landscape becomes both a social construct and a natural experience, both domain and scenery. In questioning perceptions of place, and the experience of identity in relation to our environment, Muldrow’s landscapes reveal culture, ideology and politics as well as social and environmental concerns & challenges.

Says the artist, “Landscape writes, erases, rewrites and erases. Each altered layer reveals new context, fresh narratives. Landscape has meaning; its meaning is complex, it is not static. Because landscape outlives human history, to understand history, I must interrogate the landscape.”

The selected works represent the artists' varied and resolute approach to dissecting landscape in all its complexity, and are similarly reflective, in their range, to Muldrow’s own search for personal narrative derived from the experience of growing up on military bases throughout the United States, and attempt to better understand the experience of “home.” From post-industrial ruin, dead malls & fluorescent-lit consumer landscapes to the majestic scenic beauty of the Pacific Northwest, Muldrow presents a delicate and revealing excavation of history, myth, nature & place.