Reeva Wortel

Reeva is an interdisciplinary artist who creates portrait-based projects that combine interview, social commentary, performance and large-scale installation. Driven by a commitment to develop the technique of portraiture beyond its traditional limits, Reeva has worked in communities as a social justice advocate and artist honing a technique to create portrait collections that narrate the stories of our time, a process that involves in-depth interviewing, photography, painting and installation. She has been the recipient of several grants as a muralist, choreographer and installation artist. She has exhibited her work in Oregon, New York, Colorado, California, New Zealand and Amsterdam, and is a teaching artist in Oregon, New York, and Louisiana. Reeva’s most recent installation, Look Me in the Eye, is a Portrait Performance project that contemplates Portland, Oregon’s gentrification and displacement issues through a collection of life-size family portraits and interviews. Look Me in the Eye debuted at The Portland City Hall in July and was recently reprised at Portland Center Stage in collaboration with their interpretation of Our Town.