Resume and Bio > Roger Dorband
Roger Dorband is an artist who has successfully created works in a variety of media. Early in his career his emphasis was on sculpture which earned him a commission from the City of Portland. He also exhibited his sculptures twice in the Portland Art Museum's Artists of Oregon Exhibition and was accepted into a national drawing exhibition. During those years his camera was always nearby. He says that, “there are major parallels between sculpture and photography. Both rely on the quality of light to express form, spatial relationships and content. The major, obvious, difference is that with sculpture the medium of expression is materially denser.”
A photographic opportunity to collaborate on a book with award winning author, Ursula K. Le Guin, shifted Dorband’s emphasis to photography. Their collaboration, Blue Moon Over Thurman Street, was followed by a coffee table book on the river Dorband grew up on. The Rogue, Portrait of A River, is comprised of Dorband’s photography and text. A second collaboration with Le Guin entitled Out Here, Poems and Images from Steens Mountain Country, published in 2010, was followed by a private book commission for a Seattle billionaire documenting his southern Oregon Ranch.
During the years of doing mostly photography Dorband has continued to make occasional sculptures. Rain Catcher, was completed in 2018. It is carved from Potorro black marble, quarried on the island of Palmaria in the legendary Gulf of Poets of northern Italy. The stone was first utilized by the Romans who prized it for its deep, velvety blacks veined with streaks of gold.
Dorband says that in both photography and sculpture, “I take a lot of inspiration from nature. This piece, which I dubbed Rain Catcher because if outdoors moisture gathers in the chiseled area of the suspended form, incorporates the archetypical spiral found in nature, most famously expressed in the sky of Van Gogh’s Starry Night. There is also a strong suggestion of the Chinese yin/yang symbol which is the fundamental archetype behind all of life. Of course people are free to see what they will in the piece. Most recently someone said it looked like an opening seed while someone else said it looked like an ancient sea fossil. I liked both notions since to me they both connect with the archetypes found in nature."
EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND
I earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of Oregon (1966). After a period of employment and travel I earned an second Bachelor of Fine Arts in sculpture from Portland State University (1975).
During the mid 1980’s I studied photography at the Oregon College of Art and Craft with Cherie Hiser and took photographic workshops from Lee Friedlander, Jerry Uelsman, Martha Casanave, Terry Toedemierer and Stu Levi.
BOOKS OF PHOTOGRAPHY PUBLISHED
To date I have published four books of my photography:
1993 Blue Moon Over Thurman Street. Published by NewSage Press, Portland Oregon. Collaboration with writer Ursula K. Le Guin.
2006 The Rogue, Portrait of a River. Published by Raven Studios, Portland Oregon. Photography and text.
2010 Out Here, Images and Poems from Steens Mountain Country . Published by Raven Studios, Portland Oregon. Collaboration with Ursula K. Le Guin. Nominated for Oregon Book Award.
2013 The 4R Ranch, A Legacy on the Rogue River . Private book commission for John McCaw, Jr. family. Photography and text.
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
- Portland Art Museum
-Hallie Ford Museum, Willamette University
- St. Petersberg Fla. Art Museum
- Jordon Schnizer Museum of Art at the University of Oregon
- University of Oregon Library Archive
- Dayton Institute of Art
- Grants Pass Art Museum
- City of Portland (sculpture)
- City of Tualatin - Visual Art Chronicle
- Collection of Michael Cunningham, Asia Art Curator Emeritus of the Cleveland Art Museum
- Collection of Bonnie Laing-Malcomson, Curator Emeritus of Northwest Art Collection at the Portland Art Museum
- Collection of Barbara K. Gibbs former director of the Cincinnati Art Museum
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
Sculpture
Exhibited sculpture at Elizabeth Leach Gallery 1977-80
- Artists of Oregon Exhibition, Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon, 1975 & 1977
- One man exhibition at the Fairbanks Gallery at Oregon State University, 1979
- Two person exhibition at Rogue Community College, Grants Pass, Oregon 1980.
- Numerous group exhibitions 1975-1980
In addition to a commissioned piece for the City of Portland, I did commission pieces for the Odd Fellows, Moyer Theaters, and for individual collections.
From 1975 through 1980 I taught sculpture in the Artists in the Schools program, the Oregon Art Foundation residence program, CETA Artists in the Schools, and Arts and Crafts Gallery Artists in the Schools program. From 1984-1986 I taught clay portraiture at the Multnomah Art Center and in my private Portland studio.
Photography
- The Pacific Northwest 2021, LightBox Gallery, Astoria Oregon.
- Northwest 40 Exhibition, LightBox Gallery, Astoria, Oregon 2020.
- A Tribute to Ursula Le Guin, Two Person Exhibition at RiverSea Gallery, Astoria, Oregon 2019
- 1st Annual National Photographic Exhibition, Emerald Art Center, Springfield, Oregon. 2016
-Heavy Metal II, International Group Exhibition juried by Ray Bidegain, LightBox Gallery, Astoria, Oregon. 2016.
- LightBox Files Exhibition, LightBox Gallery, Astoria, Oregon. 2016 -2020.
- 2nd Annual Miami Photo Salon, Group Exhibition juried by Luc Chessex and Nereida Garcia Ferrez, Spectrum Art Fair, 2015.
- Mother Earth, Group Exhibition, Stu Levy curator, LightBox Gallery, Astoria, Oregon 2015.
- Terra Nova, Group Exhibition juried by the Cannon Beach Art Association, Cannon Beach Gallery 2015.
- Rogue Gallery and Art Center, Medford, Oregon, One Person Exhibition 2015
- Halcyon Days. The Camera in the Garden, Group Exhibition, Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon. Julia Dolan, curator. 2014
- Aura, National Group Exhibition, LightBox Gallery, Astoria, Oregon. Michelle Rogers Pritzl juror. 2014
- Less is More, National Group Exhibition, Mitchel Gallery, St Johns College, Annapolis, Maryland. Domenic Iacono juror. 2014
- Paris Solitaire, One Person Exhibition, LightBox Gallery, Astoria, Oregon. 2014
- Rogue River Images, One Person Exhibition, LightBox Gallery, Astoria, Oregon. 2010
- Howard Hanson Gallery, One Person Exhibition, Ashland, Oregon 2008
- Portland Building, One Person Exhibition, Portland, Oregon. 2000
- Tacoma Biennial, Group Exhibition, Tacoma Art Museum. Tacoma, Washington. 1995
- Centrum Gallery, One Person Exhibition, Oregon College of Arts and Crafts, Portland, Oregon. 1994.
- Elizabeth Leach Gallery, One Person Exhibition, Portland, Oregon,1989
- Elizabeth Leach Invitational Landscape Photographic Exhibition c. 1986
- Del Mar College National Drawing and Small Sculpture Exhibition, Joseph Cain Memorial Gallery, Corpus Christi, Texas. juror Escobar Marisol, c. 1978
- Oregon Print Makers Annual, Visual Art Center Mt. Hood Community College, Portland, Oregon, circa 1978
- Public Hanging, Portland Center for the Visual Arts, Portland, Oregon,circa 1977
A photographic opportunity to collaborate on a book with award winning author, Ursula K. Le Guin, shifted Dorband’s emphasis to photography. Their collaboration, Blue Moon Over Thurman Street, was followed by a coffee table book on the river Dorband grew up on. The Rogue, Portrait of A River, is comprised of Dorband’s photography and text. A second collaboration with Le Guin entitled Out Here, Poems and Images from Steens Mountain Country, published in 2010, was followed by a private book commission for a Seattle billionaire documenting his southern Oregon Ranch.
During the years of doing mostly photography Dorband has continued to make occasional sculptures. Rain Catcher, was completed in 2018. It is carved from Potorro black marble, quarried on the island of Palmaria in the legendary Gulf of Poets of northern Italy. The stone was first utilized by the Romans who prized it for its deep, velvety blacks veined with streaks of gold.
Dorband says that in both photography and sculpture, “I take a lot of inspiration from nature. This piece, which I dubbed Rain Catcher because if outdoors moisture gathers in the chiseled area of the suspended form, incorporates the archetypical spiral found in nature, most famously expressed in the sky of Van Gogh’s Starry Night. There is also a strong suggestion of the Chinese yin/yang symbol which is the fundamental archetype behind all of life. Of course people are free to see what they will in the piece. Most recently someone said it looked like an opening seed while someone else said it looked like an ancient sea fossil. I liked both notions since to me they both connect with the archetypes found in nature."
EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND
I earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of Oregon (1966). After a period of employment and travel I earned an second Bachelor of Fine Arts in sculpture from Portland State University (1975).
During the mid 1980’s I studied photography at the Oregon College of Art and Craft with Cherie Hiser and took photographic workshops from Lee Friedlander, Jerry Uelsman, Martha Casanave, Terry Toedemierer and Stu Levi.
BOOKS OF PHOTOGRAPHY PUBLISHED
To date I have published four books of my photography:
1993 Blue Moon Over Thurman Street. Published by NewSage Press, Portland Oregon. Collaboration with writer Ursula K. Le Guin.
2006 The Rogue, Portrait of a River. Published by Raven Studios, Portland Oregon. Photography and text.
2010 Out Here, Images and Poems from Steens Mountain Country . Published by Raven Studios, Portland Oregon. Collaboration with Ursula K. Le Guin. Nominated for Oregon Book Award.
2013 The 4R Ranch, A Legacy on the Rogue River . Private book commission for John McCaw, Jr. family. Photography and text.
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
- Portland Art Museum
-Hallie Ford Museum, Willamette University
- St. Petersberg Fla. Art Museum
- Jordon Schnizer Museum of Art at the University of Oregon
- University of Oregon Library Archive
- Dayton Institute of Art
- Grants Pass Art Museum
- City of Portland (sculpture)
- City of Tualatin - Visual Art Chronicle
- Collection of Michael Cunningham, Asia Art Curator Emeritus of the Cleveland Art Museum
- Collection of Bonnie Laing-Malcomson, Curator Emeritus of Northwest Art Collection at the Portland Art Museum
- Collection of Barbara K. Gibbs former director of the Cincinnati Art Museum
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
Sculpture
Exhibited sculpture at Elizabeth Leach Gallery 1977-80
- Artists of Oregon Exhibition, Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon, 1975 & 1977
- One man exhibition at the Fairbanks Gallery at Oregon State University, 1979
- Two person exhibition at Rogue Community College, Grants Pass, Oregon 1980.
- Numerous group exhibitions 1975-1980
In addition to a commissioned piece for the City of Portland, I did commission pieces for the Odd Fellows, Moyer Theaters, and for individual collections.
From 1975 through 1980 I taught sculpture in the Artists in the Schools program, the Oregon Art Foundation residence program, CETA Artists in the Schools, and Arts and Crafts Gallery Artists in the Schools program. From 1984-1986 I taught clay portraiture at the Multnomah Art Center and in my private Portland studio.
Photography
- The Pacific Northwest 2021, LightBox Gallery, Astoria Oregon.
- Northwest 40 Exhibition, LightBox Gallery, Astoria, Oregon 2020.
- A Tribute to Ursula Le Guin, Two Person Exhibition at RiverSea Gallery, Astoria, Oregon 2019
- 1st Annual National Photographic Exhibition, Emerald Art Center, Springfield, Oregon. 2016
-Heavy Metal II, International Group Exhibition juried by Ray Bidegain, LightBox Gallery, Astoria, Oregon. 2016.
- LightBox Files Exhibition, LightBox Gallery, Astoria, Oregon. 2016 -2020.
- 2nd Annual Miami Photo Salon, Group Exhibition juried by Luc Chessex and Nereida Garcia Ferrez, Spectrum Art Fair, 2015.
- Mother Earth, Group Exhibition, Stu Levy curator, LightBox Gallery, Astoria, Oregon 2015.
- Terra Nova, Group Exhibition juried by the Cannon Beach Art Association, Cannon Beach Gallery 2015.
- Rogue Gallery and Art Center, Medford, Oregon, One Person Exhibition 2015
- Halcyon Days. The Camera in the Garden, Group Exhibition, Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon. Julia Dolan, curator. 2014
- Aura, National Group Exhibition, LightBox Gallery, Astoria, Oregon. Michelle Rogers Pritzl juror. 2014
- Less is More, National Group Exhibition, Mitchel Gallery, St Johns College, Annapolis, Maryland. Domenic Iacono juror. 2014
- Paris Solitaire, One Person Exhibition, LightBox Gallery, Astoria, Oregon. 2014
- Rogue River Images, One Person Exhibition, LightBox Gallery, Astoria, Oregon. 2010
- Howard Hanson Gallery, One Person Exhibition, Ashland, Oregon 2008
- Portland Building, One Person Exhibition, Portland, Oregon. 2000
- Tacoma Biennial, Group Exhibition, Tacoma Art Museum. Tacoma, Washington. 1995
- Centrum Gallery, One Person Exhibition, Oregon College of Arts and Crafts, Portland, Oregon. 1994.
- Elizabeth Leach Gallery, One Person Exhibition, Portland, Oregon,1989
- Elizabeth Leach Invitational Landscape Photographic Exhibition c. 1986
- Del Mar College National Drawing and Small Sculpture Exhibition, Joseph Cain Memorial Gallery, Corpus Christi, Texas. juror Escobar Marisol, c. 1978
- Oregon Print Makers Annual, Visual Art Center Mt. Hood Community College, Portland, Oregon, circa 1978
- Public Hanging, Portland Center for the Visual Arts, Portland, Oregon,circa 1977
