Statement & Bio

What is a love that exceeds the boundaries of the body?

These paintings pursue the poetic link between the material and the incorporeal. Love and loss are inexorably connected. In both there is an undoing, a transformation, a becoming of something new. Within the work are acts of transmogrification: bodies become stars, eyes become birds, flowers become flames. Compositional elements transform throughout as if in a game of telephone.

My materials are the starting point for these paintings rather than my subjects. I paint on raw muslin with water, dyes, pigments and other water-based mediums that are largely fluid, inherently difficult to control and prone to transgressing boundaries. These qualities of the media, coupled with my often "incorrect" ways of using them, create a dynamic push and pull between deliberate and unintentional gestures. Representational elements emerge over time through a process that is vulnerable and responsive to the changing circumstances of each painting. The materials have agency and yield compositions that disrupt the false binary of abstraction and representation.

In a culture that demands speed, both my process and resultant paintings require slowing down. This deceleration feels like a radical act. Variations in hue and luminance slowly emerge as the fabric dries and shift with a change in the light. Rich washes of color bleed and jostle with their neighbors. Stubbornly matte surfaces refuse to reflect light, yet passages appear to glow. Visual noise appears out of nowhere. Slowly, elements overlooked in search of instant gratification become apparent.

To paint in this manner is maddening. My ability to edit is radically compromised by my choice of medium. The dye in these paintings remains reactive throughout the process; its colors float to the surface despite multiple layers of obstruction. Changed, yes, but very much still present. Unable to edit further, many of my paintings end up in the trash.

Other mediums might be easier, produce less heartache. But I cherish this material’s set of idiosyncratic risks and possibilities, over a guarantee of efficacy. Love and loss both demand a vulnerability.

Loren Erdrich (b. 1978) lives and works in New York City where she is currently represented by SHRINE gallery. Her undergraduate degrees include a BA, magna cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA in 2000, and a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago, IL in 2005. In 2007 she received her MFA from the Burren College of Art at the National University of Ireland, Galway. Erdrich has presented multiple solo exhibitions with SHRINE gallery (New York, NY and Los Angeles, CA) as well a two-person presentation at The Armory Show in 2022. She has participated in many global exhibitions including Harper’s (East Hampton, NY); Nicodim Gallery (Los Angeles, CA); Superzoom (Miami, FL); Guts Gallery (London, UK); Herrero Tejada (Madrid, SP); and Bricks Gallery (Copenhagen, DK). Erdrich has also been awarded residencies at Yaddo; Elizabeth Murray Artist Residency; Jentel Foundation; Santa Fe Art Institute; Sculpture Space; Vermont Studio Center; and Art Farm Nebraska. Her work has been written about in publications such as Cultured; DNA Mexico; FAD; ArtMaze; Maake; the Chicago Tribune and Il Giornale Dell’Arte. She frequently collaborates with the poet Sierra Nelson, coauthoring the award winning I Take Back the Sponge Cake (published by Rose Metal Press, 2012) and Isolation (limited edition artist book, 2020), and in 2021 she collaborated with the fashion designer Marc Jacobs to incorporate her paintings into their Resort line.

IG: @okloren