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Opening Reception, Documentary Film Viewing, and Conversation with James Florio
Thursday, September 3, 2026 // Opening Reception 5 PM; 5:30 PM Documentary Film/Conversation

James Florio: Thirtysix Views of Inverted Portal

THE
ONE ARTWORK
GALLERY

Northwest Projects Gallery

September 3, 2026 – January 9, 2027

The One Artwork Gallery invites visitors to slow down and spend time in front of a grid of photographs chronicling the 22-foot-tall structure, Inverted Portal, over seven winters. Designed by Ensamble Studio, the sculpture is sited on the grounds of Tippet Rise Art Center, where it functions as both shelter and sculptural form within the landscape. Through repeated returns to the site, Florio’s photographs capture the shifting conditions of snow, light, and weather that continually reshape its presence.

Together, these images invite viewers to share in an extended act of attention—one shaped by time and the forces of the natural world.

“Over the course of seven winters, I hiked up the hill to Inverted Portal 482 times with an 8 x 10 large format camera. The first few journeys were unintentional — I was drawn by the site’s magnetism. Soon, however, it became a pilgrimage.

I climbed again and again, through snow and cold, in light and dark, in silence and in nature’s deafening roar, to the top of the hill. Listening to the sound of the mountain and witnessing the land’s infinite change, it was the wind that decided if an image would be made. It set the tempo, dictating the time spent there, the light as it reflected off the sculpture, the force of the weather that engulfed us.

The only way to create these images was to be there in all of it. These thirty-six views tell the story of what is possible — but equally — what isn’t”  —James Florio