ART & CULTURE
A RT I S T P RO F I L E : A B B E T H RU S S E L L B Y D I A N A G O N Z E AU
A R T WO R K C O U R T E S Y O F A B B E T H RU S S E L L
A B B ET H RU S S E L L , U N PLU G G E D I N T H E E L E C T R I C O C E A N
Snow falls softly on the western prom this Tuesday afternoon, drawing the world close, white and grey. From over the hill a shock of pink bobs just into view and dances between the tree trunks. The pink shock shifts into a head of hair. This is Abbeth Russell, who has graciously agreed to sit for an interview. Abbeth has been a notable member of the Portland art and music scene for many years since moving to town to finish her education in painting at the Maine College of Art. Her work has appeared in over 65 shows in the greater Portland area since 2010, and in 2012, Abbeth began the Hidden Ladder Collective alongside cofounder Will Hessian. In addition to her work in the visual arts and organizing in the art community, Abbeth performs in The Bumbling Woohas, a touring band since 2013.
(Interview has been edited for length and clarity.) MCC: Where would you say your creative practice began? What’s your earliest memory of a creative-type project? Abbeth: When I was a really little kid, even before I knew how to write, I was keeping notebooks and journals. I was really inspired by Harriet the Spy, so I was really into hiding out and drawing people and drawing situations, and then when I could write, filling notebooks and journals with my thoughts. And I was really into bugs when I was a kid, so a lot of the content of my journals were weird bugs and stuff, and I feel like over time that kinda shifted into those bugs being more like
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