No Good God | John Mace

No Good God examines the roles of belief and hope in human existence. It takes the stance that hope is like breathing while belief is like holding your breath. The two constitute an ethereal duality in the human focus and lead the devoted through a chronically incomplete life terrain populated by the notion of opposites; to be chosen/ or not. Propped up and tragically battling persistent deflation, belief stretches the spirit over the low spots of fate while hope follows us in like a sidekick or a good dog. The days’ frontiers, damaged by the uncertainty, are simultaneously barren and fruitful, while the intrinsic hope is often undone by belief’s rigid outline; I believe I am saved/ I do not believe. No Good God probes the soft underbelly of the individual spiritual body and meters the journey from the profound to the profane.

Mace is a returning artist to Portland Art Center. In 2005, he exhibited an installation for the group show Memory with Suzi Root. Mace’s installation was voted “Best Installation of 2005” in the WWeek, by Richard Speer.

Originally from Houston, Texas, John Mace has lived and worked in Portland, OR since 1996. Trained as a blacksmith and welder and currently owner of Birdseye Hardwoods LLC, Mace began working in installation art in 2000. His works are typically large in scale and often incorporate themes of family history, sexuality, and the spiritually divine. Using existing and engineered systems to emphasize the obscure and over-looked aspects of the human experience, Mace searches the days mundane moments for the tiny bits that transcend ordinary existence.