PORTLAND. ORE.- Intimate Horizons pairs artists Claire Ashley and Bahar Yurukoglu to create an immersive, site-responsive exhibition examining the relationship between geometric abstraction, landscape and architecture. Curated by Rachel Adams, Intimate Horizons is the first exhibition of the 2014-2015 Curator-in-Residence season at Disjecta.

Claire Ashley’s large-scale inflatable works reference organic architectural forms, situating and changing themselves to fit new environments. Interested in combining the mark of painting with the form of sculpture, Ashley enlivens the cavernous Disjecta space with her pop-culture palette. She also collaborated with local dancers Keyon Gaskin and Jen Hackworth to activate two of her inflatables through improvised dance. The performance will take place during the opening reception.

Bahar Yurukoglu examines natural and artificial space through the creation of what she calls “neoscapes”. The process begins when she integrates brightly colored Plexiglass into rugged landscapes—such as Iceland, Wyoming or Montana—filming the resulting juxtaposition. Then, within the exhibition setting, she projects the images of these landscapes onto her Plexiglass installations, effectively inverting the interaction she previously established. At Disjecta, Yurukoglu's immersive installation highlights the tension inherent within her constructed images and contrasting processes.

In Intimate Horizons, Ashley and Yurukoglu present new and reimagined works. In addition to these solo works, the artists collaborated on a new installation combining Ashley’s inflatable sculpture with Yurukoglu’s bright Plexiglass and projected landscapes—furthering their investigation of form, spatial awareness and the influence of architecture in contemporary art.

Claire Ashley (b. Scotland) lives and works in Chicago. She is an adjunct professor in Contemporary Practices and Painting & Drawing at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She holds an MFA from The School of the Art Institute and a BA from Grays School of Art in Aberdeen, Scotland. Her work has been shown at the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, Lincoln, MA; Columbus College of Art and Design; Icebox, Philadelphia; Chicago Cultural Center; and Bahamas Biennale, Milwaukee. This is her first exhibition on the west coast.

Bahar Yurukoglu (b. Washington, D.C.) lives and works in Boston. She holds an MFA from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design and a BFA from the School of the Visual Arts in NY. Her work has been exhibited at Beth Urdang Gallery, Boston; Nesrin Esirtgen Gallery, Istanbul; and Montserrat College, Beverly, MA. She was recently included in the 2013 deCordova Museum and Sculpture Garden Biennial and in 2015 will attend the Arctic Circle Residency at the North Pole. This is her first exhibition in Portland.