Art Talk: Erika Ranee

Artist Erika Ranee discusses her artwork in the exhibition I Don’t Like to Draw, currently on view in BMAC’s Center and South Galleries.

A self-described “die-hard abstract painter,” Ranee builds her paintings in layers of paint wash, shellac, spray paint, oil stick, and collage, creating luminous, tactile surfaces that record her movements and decisions over time. Everyday materials—postcard scraps, leaves, fragments of handwriting—become embedded within the work, transforming each piece into a kind of time capsule.

Ranee describes her process as a “state of conscious flow,” one that allows her to build, obscure, and reveal in an intuitive rhythm. Her embrace of abstraction has become a source of creative freedom, allowing her to move beyond the burden of “Drawing-with-a-capital-D” and rediscover drawing as a playful, expressive force.

Based in New York City, Ranee received her MFA in painting from the University of California, Berkeley. Her numerous honors include two New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) Fellowships in Painting (1996, 2021), an AIM Fellowship from the Bronx Museum, and residencies at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture and the Marie Walsh Sharpe Art Foundation. Her work has been exhibited widely across the U.S. and internationally, including solo presentations at BRIC/Project Room and Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery, a group exhibition at the Southampton Arts Center, and recent international exhibitions in Düsseldorf and Paris.

Photos and videos may be taken during this event for use in BMAC promotional materials.

• Registration recommended; walk-ins welcome.

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Host or Publisher Brattleboro Museum & Art Center