Through a mixed media practice that combines both artificial and natural materials, Teresa Baker creates abstracted landscapes that explore various topographies— and how we move, see, and explore within them. The materials, texture, shapes, and color relationships are guided by Baker’s heritage as an enrolled member of the Three Affiliated Tribes (Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nations), while also invoking the forms of Euro-American modernist painting. Her practice is exemplified in Looking Up (2022), currently on view at the PMA and in which AstroTurf is repurposed into undulating forms that echo the land itself.

The Barnet Scholars Lecture at the Portland Museum of Art invites an established scholar to lead conversations with museum colleagues on topics related to 20th-century American art.

This program is generously funded by the Will Barnet Foundation.