artist bio

Noelle Suzanne Barce is a visual artist, curator and arts professional born and raised in the Pacific Northwest.  She graduated from Portland State University, where she studied printmaking and literature, and worked as administrator at the Littman and White Galleries.  She has worked for Oregon Contemporary, PICA’s TBA Festival, Lan Su Chinese Garden, Portland Japanese Garden and other arts and culture organizations, where she oversaw visitor services, cultural programming and gallery operations.  She began as a pen + ink illustrator, creating images for local bands and creative producers in Portland. Around 2014, feeling conceptually limited by illustration work, she began experimenting with abstraction, inspired by the infinite combinations of color and texture on paper and canvas. Her interest in combining traditional craft work with postmodern aesthetics has inspired work on a new series using textiles and other fiber media. For the artist, the decision-making process involved in producing abstract art has a kind of purity; each choice feels like free will, for it isn’t driven by the typical influences of daily life. She currently works as a designer and custom picture framer, and lives with her partner and three cats in Portland.