Abigail Portner is an American

visual artist The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile arts al ...

designer A designer is a person who plans the form or structure of something before it is made, by preparing drawings or plans. In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, products, processes, laws, games, graphics, services, or exp ...

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

director and musician in the bands Rings and Hex Message, and solo under the name Drawlings. She lives and works in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Visual art

Abby Portner's work is closely connected to her friends and especially to her brother David Portner's band

Animal Collective Animal Collective is an American experimental pop band formed in Baltimore, Maryland. Its members consist of Avey Tare (David Portner), Panda Bear (Noah Lennox), Geologist (Brian Weitz), and Deakin (Josh Dibb). The band's work is characterized ...

. She started to make tour posters when they were still in High School together in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. She later moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

to attend Parsons School for Design, but continued to make record covers and still designs shirts, tour posters and merchandise for the band.
Abby Portner on Drawlings, Rings, and making art for Animal Collective. BBQChickenRobot.com, December 21st, 2008 For Animal Collective's album '' Merriweather Post Pavilion (album), Merriweather Post Pavilion'', she contributed a music video for the song ''In the Flowers''. In the summer of 2010 she built a live set for two Animal Collective shows in Prospect Park in

that contained large scale paintings and sculptures of jellyfish, tiki men, moving sharks and shooting water. The work was handmade by Portner in small parts with the help of friends in a working space in

Bushwick Bushwick is a neighborhood in the northern part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded by the neighborhood of Ridgewood, Queens, to the northeast; Williamsburg to the northwest; East New York and the cemeteries of Highland Par ...

, New York City, and put together on stage. Abigail Portner. Artist Advocacy Network, 2010 Besides drawing for Animal Collective, Portner worked on a wide range of visual art projects, including

Tattoo A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, and/or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several Process of tatt ...

designing and

Cartoons A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of images ...

. In the end of 2008 she designed

skateboard A skateboard is a type of sports equipment used for skateboarding. They are usually made of a specially designed 7-8 ply maple plywood deck and polyurethane wheels attached to the underside by a pair of skateboarding trucks. The skateboarde ...

s for the

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

-based brand

Alien Workshop Alien Workshop (AWS) is an independent American skateboarding company that was founded in 1990 by Chris Carter, Mike Hill, and Neil Blender in Dayton, Ohio. Following periods under the ownership of the Burton snowboard company and original team r ...

. In mid-2010 Portner worked as a guest artist for the animated series ''The Velvet Mouse Show''. In early 2010, The Fader Magazine featured Portner in the 65th issue with some artwork and a portrait. In addition, an interview and a slideshow with the artist's work was posted on the magazine's website. According to herself, the inspiration for her imagery comes from sources like old photos of her childhood, children's magazines and

Disney World The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando and Kissimmee. Opened on October 1, 1971, th ...

. She points out the motif of play and playfulness as the main theme of her work. Accordingly, recurrent themes in her drawings are animals, masked children,

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

and

Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observanc ...

. In addition to this "childlike" approach Portner adds a dark, melancholic and often eerie undertone to her figures: In 2014, she directed music video for " If You Were Still Around" song by

John Cale John Davies Cale (born 9 March 1942) is a Welsh musician, composer, singer, songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the American rock band the Velvet Underground. Over his six-decade career, Cale has worked in various styl ...

Music

Portner joined Nina Mehta and Kate Rosko of the New York-based band First Nation in June 2006 as a drummer, shortly after Melissa Livaudis of

Telepathe Telepathe (pronounced ''telepathy'' and meant with some literal meaning) are an electronic pop duo from Brooklyn consisting of core members Busy Gangnes and Melissa Livaudais. The band also includes other occasional musicians, such as Ryan Lucero. ...

left the band. With Mehta and Rosko she started to write new material as well as playing shows around New York City and at the Midi Festival in France in August 2006. After changing the band's name to Rings, they eventually recorded the album, ''Black Habit'' in March 2008 at Rove Studios in Kentucky, along with Kristin Anna Valtysdottir who produced the record.
First Nation / Rings. Paw Tracks Artist Info As the drummer of Ring (band), Rings and Among Natives, another musical project of hers, Portner was one of 77 drummers participating in the art project

77 Boadrum ''77 Boa Drum'' is a live album by Japanese experimental music group Boredoms, recorded on July 7, 2007, at the Empire–Fulton Ferry section of Brooklyn Bridge Park in Brooklyn, New York City, New York. It was released on two CDs, plus a 20-mi ...

in Summer 2007. A year later, she was also part of the follow-up

88 Boadrum ''77 Boa Drum'' is a live album by Japanese experimental music group Boredoms, recorded on July 7, 2007, at the Empire–Fulton Ferry section of Brooklyn Bridge Park in Brooklyn, New York City, New York. It was released on two CDs, plus a 20-minu ...

. In the meantime, Portner had also joined the four-piece

jam Jam is a type of fruit preserve. Jam or Jammed may also refer to: Other common meanings * A firearm malfunction * Block signals ** Radio jamming ** Radar jamming and deception ** Mobile phone jammer ** Echolocation jamming Arts and entertai ...

band Hex Message. In the summer of 2008 Portner started her solo music project Drawlings: Since then, she played solo shows mostly in New York City and

and opened for artists like

, Deakin, Kría Brekkan,

Foot Village Foot Village is a tribal noise rock band based in Los Angeles, California. The band consists of members Brian Miller, Grace Lee, Gregory Witscher, and Josh Taylor. The band has been described as a "drum-n-shout assembly". In a review of their 200 ...

and

Angel Deradoorian Angel Deradoorian (born July 18, 1986), also known mononymously as Deradoorian, is a musician based in Los Angeles, California. She is best known for her work with Dirty Projectors as full-time member from 2007 to 2012. She left to pursue a solo ...

, with her fellow Rings members joining her sometimes on stage. In May 2011, Portner played at

All Tomorrow's Parties "All Tomorrow's Parties" is a song by the Velvet Underground and Nico, written by Lou Reed and released on the group's 1967 debut studio album, ''The Velvet Underground & Nico''. Inspiration for the song came from Reed's observation of Andy Warh ...

curated by Animal Collective in

Minehead Minehead is a coastal town and civil parish in Somerset, England. It lies on the south bank of the Bristol Channel, north-west of the county town of Taunton, from the boundary with the county of Devon and in proximity of the Exmoor National P ...

, England, along with

Big Boi Antwan André Patton (born February 1, 1975), better known by his stage name Big Boi, is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer and actor. He is best known for being a member of the southern hip hop duo Outkast alongside André 3000. ...

Beach House Beach House is an American musical duo formed in Baltimore, Maryland in 2004. The band consists of Victoria Legrand (vocals, keyboards) and Alex Scally (guitar, keyboard, backing vocals). Their self-titled debut album was released in 2006 to ...

Atlas Sound Bradford James Cox (born May 15, 1982) is an American singer-songwriter and musician, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the indie rock band Deerhunter. He also pursues a solo career under the moniker Atlas Sound. Cox formed Deerh ...

Gang Gang Dance Gang Gang Dance is an American band based in Manhattan, New York City. They are known for their distinctive sound which blends elements of psych-rock, ambient electronics, hip-hop, and Eastern music influences with the vocals of singer Lizzi B ...

and

Paw Tracks Paw Tracks (formerly known as Soccer Stars until 2000, then Animal until 2003) was an independent record label based in Washington, D.C. At first only records by Animal Collective were released on the label, but since 2004 it has also released ...

bands such as

Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti Ariel Marcus Rosenberg ( ; born June 24, 1978), professionally known as Ariel Pink, is an American musician, singer, and songwriter whose work draws heavily from the popular music of the 1960s–1980s. His lo-fi aesthetic and home-recorded alb ...

and

Black Dice Black Dice is an American experimental noise music band based in Brooklyn, New York and consisting of brothers Bjorn and Eric Copeland along with Aaron Warren. Formed in 1997, the group was initially inspired by hardcore and noise rock, but subse ...

. The only Drawlings release so far is the solo song "Wolfie's Christmas" on a

7-inch In music, a single is a type of release, typically a song recording of fewer tracks than an LP record or an album. One can be released for sale to the public in a variety of formats. In most cases, a single is a song that is released separate ...

named "Be Good to Earth This Season" released on Paw Tracks in the end of 2008. In an interview in 2010, Portner announced that she plans on recording a Drawlings album in the following winter with her brother David Portner to release it on Paw Tracks in early 2011: " ..I have a name for the record and the album art already realized. I just need to get the songs down."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Portner, Abby Living people American women percussionists Women in electronic music American artists 1980 births