Water is the primary vehicle and collaborator in Loren Erdrich’s paintings. Her atmospheric works are created using thin muslin that is fully drenched with water before various dyes and raw pigments are added to conjure her images. Erdrich helps define and direct her scenes, but she is also at the mercy of the fluid binder that infuses her works with life and form.
Spirits, mystical faces, glowing flames and human figures emerge from Erdrich’s deep color fields, and the blurred interlay of pigments mixed with water result in images that softly come in and out of focus. Often working on both sides of the muslin before stretching it, Erdrich’s washes penetrate the fabric resulting in unexpected patterns and markings, and reverse-bleed images that further heighten the dreamy aspect of her paintings. There is an abstract and spiritual feeling to the cast of characters quietly addressing us from within her canvases, all subsumed by deep-hued clouds and haze.
Like the artist herself, Erdrich’s paintings feel open and quietly vulnerable. She has opened the door to her subconscious to let us peer in. The figures she portrays are exotic and otherworldly, but at the same time feel real and relatable. Are the images alter egos of herself, or perhaps representations from the world as she sees it? Each of the artist’s effigies has been imbued with sincere emotion and feeling; one feels flirty and proud, another is shy and mysterious, and many are simply lost in contemplative longing for something lost. Together, they address the audience for, and with, the artist.
Loren Erdrich (b. 1978) lives and works in New York City. In a Certain Light is her first solo exhibition with SHRINE following a presentation at The Armory Show in 2022 and an online project in 2021. She has previously exhibited at Harper’s (East Hampton, NY), Nicodim Gallery (Los Angeles, CA), Primary (Miami, FL), Guts Gallery (London, UK) and Wasserman Projects (Detroit, MI). She has been awarded residencies at the Elizabeth Murray Artist Residency Jentel Foundation, Santa Fe Art Institute, Sculpture Space, Vermont Studio Center and thrice at Art Farm Nebraska.
