Strong Spirits Carry Us Forward
Epiphany Couch
January 4th — 26, 2025
Opening Reception
Saturday, January 4, 5-8 pmOpen Hours
Sat-Sun 12-5 pmdrop in or by appointment
Email info@carnationcontemporary.com
to schedule a visit
When our ancestors call to us, how do we respond? This question lies at the heart of Epiphany Couch’s installation, Strong Spirits Carry Us Forward. Originally presented by Dreaming in Public at the Seattle Art Fair, this expanded iteration pays tribute to Couch’s grandmother and great-grandfather, honoring the enduring legacy of generational knowledge.
Modeled after her grandmother’s kitchen—a sacred space where stories, food, and wisdom were shared—Couch invites us to a place that acknowledges the anger and loss woven into family histories while transforming these emotions into pathways for healing. Through family photographs, intricate beadwork, and sculptural objects, she builds bridges across generations, delving into the complexities of heritage, identity, and familial relationships.
This exhibition is generously supported by an Art3Cs Grant from the Regional Arts & Culture Council, as well as the Seattle Art Fair and Dreaming In Public.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Epiphany Couch (she/her) is an interdisciplinary artist exploring generational knowledge, storytelling, and our connection to the metaphysical. By re-contextualizing mediums such as bookmaking, beadwork, photography, and collage, she presents new ways to examine our pasts, the natural world, and our ancestors. Couch’s work is unapologetically personal, drawing from family stories, her childhood experience, archival research, and her own dreams. She utilizes a multidisciplinary approach to create images and sculptural works that hold space for reflection, transforming from mere things into precious objects — intimate and heirloom-like.
Couch is spuyaləpabš (Puyallup), Yakama, and Scandinavian/Mixed European and grew up in caləłali (Tacoma, Washington) in the shadow of təqwuʔməʔ (Mount Rainier). She attended the Tacoma School of the Arts and earned her BFA in Sculpture from the University of Puget Sound. In 2024 she was a Studios at MASS MoCA resident, recipient of a 2024 Ford Family Foundation Oregon Visual Artist Fellowship, and a commissioned artist for Oregon's Percent for Art in Public Places. Her work has been shown in galleries, museums, and fairs across the U.S. Couch lives and works in Portland, Oregon where she is a member of Carnation Contemporary Gallery.