The End of Winter Break

Leah C.

January 3, 2010 - 9:40 AM

The final day of winter break was filled with fun and the dread of going back to school. I'm not saying that I don't enjoy my time in Eugene, but to get back into the study and work mode feels a bit too soon. As I finish packing and had said all my good byes, I made sure to venture down to the heart of Portland one last time.

You can say downtown Portland is like my backyard. The high school that I went to sits just outside of all the great restaurants, parks, and boutiques. During my junior and senior year as an IB art student, my art class made frequent trips down to the Pearl District to look at all the galleries there. I recently found a gallery that I really love, which houses many contemporary and Asian influenced art. Every time I'm in the area, I have to visit it! The gallery is called Compound , which is also a combination of a store as well. They sell anything that is design related from toys, art, and really neat apparel. Designer shoes, like Nike, line the windows and display tables. I even saw fur covered high tops! Not something I would personally purchase, but a pretty bold move for the designer. 

The center of the first floor is covered with colorful boxes that hold a large selection of designer toys. A growing popular collectible, the product is held in a small box that usually does not identify which design is inside. There are usually 6-12 different designs depending on what series and company you purchase from. I am currently collecting Dunnys and the Simpson series, both from the company, Kid Robot. These collectables are so cool, with hundreds of different designs and styles to collect. I would love to design my very own, and perhaps even get into something like this as a career. The Dunny's that I collect are a standing bunny, with the same pose. There are numerous amounts of images and ways one could design the surface of the figure, and to come up with the cool, dark, and even the ugliest designs must be a really fun job.

The upstairs of Compound is where the gallery is at. Art work lines the traditional white walls. The artists of the digital and traditional art works are mainly underground Japanese and European artist unheard of most people in the US. These art works range from original paintings to digital art prints. One of my favorites of the collection is actually an LA based couple called Kozyndan. This illustration team incorporates a lot of animals into their works. The poster that I had recently bought shows bunnies blowing off of trees like leaves, which is an interpretation of a fall scene, in their series "Season of the Bunnies".

Compound is just another example of what I would really like to do. Making art or making products that are related to my passion would be a dream come true. Recently I have not done anything independently, only class related. This Gallery and store made me realize that design is not only about visual and text. Digital Arts can also be a framed image or a collectable in a decorative box. I highly recommend anyone to check the place out! It's a store that deserves much appreciation and is located right between the Pearl District and China Town.