Exuberant & unexpected: Ricky Bearghost's weavings * Oregon ArtsWatch

"Ricky Bearghost piqued my interest years ago, when I first encountered his weavings at a holiday sale at Elbow Room, the progressive art studio in inner southeast Portland where he works. Bearghost possesses a knack for weaving materials together in ways that subvert my expectations through twists and turns of stimulating color and strata layered with warp and weft to create new vibrant substrates that delight. His pieces read as authentically fun and rich, an intersection of traits lacking in many contemporary art spaces."

"Rug Farm boasts many weavings, along with some of Bearghost's colorful drawings displayed compositionally on Elbow Room's gallery walls. A small liminal space adjacent to the gallery, holds many of Bearghost's additional works in a retail context, predominantly small-scale weavings along with drawings and a few t-shirts featuring his design-small weavings start at the affordable price of $20. I learned from the curatorial text that Bearghost enjoys working on the studio's community garden plot, and his solo exhibition reflects this affinity."

"The metaphor of the "Rug Farm" reaches deeper into these land-based associations. Bearghost's weavings reflect a space of composting, integrating "found and scrounged materials," as per the curatorial text. He layers everything from plastic, spools, yarn, and organic matter into his weavings, which often take the shape of rectangles with dangling and protruding ephemera. These works exude an organic quality, like farm plots with thoughtful companion planting, where"

Ricky Bearghost creates vibrant weavings and colorful drawings that combine found and scrounged materials into layered, playful substrates. Rug Farm at Elbow Room is his first solo exhibition featuring many weavings and compositionally displayed drawings, with small-scale works and t-shirts available in an adjacent retail space. Some pieces are titled after garden elements and sensory experiences—Tomato Plants, Eat Raspberries, Hot Day, Apple Pie—reflecting Bearghost's involvement in the studio's community garden. Materials include plastic, spools, yarn, and organic matter; many works are rectangular with dangling ephemera and convey an organic, compost-like quality.

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