Crackers (& cookies)

Wool felt snack-inspired sculpture by LeBrie Rich

April 3-26, 2025 Nine Gallery

Join me to celebrate the debut of new work in my solo exhibition, “Crackers (& Cookies)” at Nine Gallery. Continuing with my visual explorations of mass-produced food and its cultural significance, I am presenting large-scale felted sculptures—including some snack-inspired furniture—featuring iconic brands of crackers and cookies. Stripped of their familiar outer packaging and magnified well beyond life-size, each object’s formal elements move to the forefront, although the resemblance to the original product is never lost.

In addition to these larger sculptures, the exhibition will include two-dimensional textile pieces I created while living in Amsterdam in 2022. These works contain felted Ritz Crackers, Cheez-Its, Oreos, and other modern snack foods applied to vintage embroidery samplers and textiles sourced from Dutch antique markets. By bringing together art forms from two different cultures and time periods, I illustrate the global reach of American food products, while the countless hours required to create each object offer a pointed critique of our throwaway consumer culture.

LeBrie Rich
CRACKERS (& Cookies)

April 3–26, 2025
Nine Gallery (located inside Blue Sky)

122 SW 8th Avenue
Portland, OR 97209
Hours: Wed.–Sat. 12–5pm

Crackers (& cookies) Pop-up:

Ultra special limited edition Cheez-It shirts by Collect Call

I am sooooooo overjoyed that Ryan of Collect Call is making very limited edition souvenir T-shirts for my show. This is a dream come true, because Ryan’s garment-based work is some of my favorite in the world! Ryan and I will be at the gallery 2pm - 4pm on Saturday, so you can come and see his work and mine and chit chat with us both. Come early if you want a shirt! They will definitely sell out. Ryan will might take orders for made to order shirts after they sell out, or maybe not.

I will update the images on this page of the actual shirts when we have them. The shirts are currently being invented, and made from scratch, natch.

ABOUT COLLECT CALL

Hi, My name is Ryan (he/him) I live and design in Portland Or. While fashion has always held a central position among my interests it is fairly recently that I have begun to design and produce my own garments. For the longest time my creative pursuits revolved around more traditional visual arts, starting with drawing and painting and moving eventually to a more sculptural focus. My sculptures were the result of experimenting with paper products and mostly found plastics as well as other materials. I refined certain techniques that interested me and this contributed to the final form of my pieces. It seems no surprise that eventually my love of fashion and making sculptural art pieces would merge into this current incarnation: Collect Call.

As of 2022 I’ve taken an interest in digital sculpting both in Virtual Reality and tablet based software.

FURTHER READING

Never heard of Ryan’s work and want a taste? Here’s a review for a show that he had over the summer that will take you down the rabbit hole!

ABOUT THE SHOW

Join me to celebrate my new work in my solo exhibition, “Crackers (& Cookies)” at Nine Gallery. Continuing with my visual explorations of mass-produced food and its cultural significance, I am presenting large-scale felted sculptures—including some snack-inspired furniture—featuring iconic brands of crackers and cookies. Stripped of their familiar outer packaging and magnified well beyond life-size, each object’s formal elements move to the forefront, although the resemblance to the original product is never lost.

In addition to these larger sculptures, the exhibition will include two-dimensional textile pieces I created while living in Amsterdam in 2022. These works contain felted Ritz Crackers, Cheez-Its, Oreos, and other modern snack foods applied to vintage embroidery samplers and textiles sourced from Dutch antique markets. By bringing together art forms from two different cultures and time periods, I illustrate the global reach of American food products, while the countless hours required to create each object offer a pointed critique of our throwaway consumer culture.

LeBrie Rich
CRACKERS (& Cookies)

April 3–26, 2025
Nine Gallery (located inside Blue Sky)

122 SW 8th Avenue
Portland, OR 97209
Hours: Wed.–Sat. 12–5pm

Crackers (& cookies)

Wool felt snack-inspired sculpture by LeBrie Rich

April 3-26, 2025 Nine Gallery

This is the last day to see “Crackers (& Cookies)” at Nine Gallery. I am contemplating doing an event for this last day of the show, but haven’t firmed up details on that yet. If you know you want to visit with me in addition to seeing my work, come to the opening reception or Cheez-it shirt pop-up. :)

Continuing with my visual explorations of mass-produced food and its cultural significance, I am presenting large-scale felted sculptures—including some snack-inspired furniture—featuring iconic brands of crackers and cookies. Stripped of their familiar outer packaging and magnified well beyond life-size, each object’s formal elements move to the forefront, although the resemblance to the original product is never lost.

In addition to these larger sculptures, the exhibition will include two-dimensional textile pieces I created while living in Amsterdam in 2022. These works contain felted Ritz Crackers, Cheez-Its, Oreos, and other modern snack foods applied to vintage embroidery samplers and textiles sourced from Dutch antique markets. By bringing together art forms from two different cultures and time periods, I illustrate the global reach of American food products, while the countless hours required to create each object offer a pointed critique of our throwaway consumer culture.

LeBrie Rich
CRACKERS (& Cookies)

April 3–26, 2025
Nine Gallery (located inside Blue Sky)

122 SW 8th Avenue
Portland, OR 97209
Hours: Wed.–Sat. 12–5pm

It’s time for a field trip!