2 photographs

Identical Objects

Dozens of molded plastic Santa Claus figures glow with warm amber light in Chris Willis's annual art installation at a Sellwood consignment gallery. The repetitive crimson-clad figures create a mesmerizing pattern that stretches into darkness, their identical jolly expressions caught between whimsy and unsettling uniformity. The installation transforms the humble Christmas decoration into a commentary on mass production and holiday commercialization, with each illuminated Santa casting a soft pool of light in the gallery's shadowy interior. — ISO 800 · 50mm · f/5.6 · 1/60

Illuminated Santa Army in Portland Gallery

Portland, Oregon

Chris Willis's "Santa Clones" installation illuminates dozens of identical plastic Santa figures in Portland's Sellwood neighborhood.

Hundreds of identical Santa Claus figures occupy the floor of Consignment Store in Portland's Sellwood neighborhood, creating Chris Willis's surreal annual art installation. The ceramic or plastic Santas are arranged in precise rows on wire shelving, their jolly faces creating an unsettling sea of mass-produced Christmas cheer. Gallery windows reflect the quiet street outside, where a silver SUV and storefronts hint at the ordinary world beyond this dreamlike tableau of holiday multiplication. — ISO 800 · 33mm · f/5.6 · 1/60

Santa Clones Installation at Portland Gallery

Portland, Oregon

Chris Willis's "Santa Clones" installation transforms Portland's Consignment Store into a haunting landscape of mass-produced holiday figures.