Michelle Ramin

In times of transition, I often return to the self-portrait. After years of being bombarded by Zoom calls, mobile news articles, social media pings, and seemingly infinite layers of open laptop windows, I chose to depart from my recent abstract oil painting and revisit drawing in color pencil. Rendering reality as it is observed has been a meditative process throughout my life, creating a clear way to process and analyze what’s in front of me. As each saturated rectangle upon rectangle screams with to-do lists - showing no clear delineation between physical, digital, and psychological space - the beginning of this new body of work reveals how completely flooded my brain has become amidst a worldwide, perpetual pandemic.

Hailing from the mountains of North Central Pennsylvania, Michelle Ramin received her BA from Penn State University and her MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute. Ramin has exhibited her artwork nationally, including at Southern Exposure in San Francisco, SOHO20 Chelsea Gallery in NYC, Jonathan Ferrara Gallery in New Orleans, The Pennsylvania College of Technology, and Russo Lee Gallery in Portland, OR. Ramin’s work has been featured in such publications as New American Paintings, SF Weekly, Beautiful Decay, and Art Ltd. Magazine, to name a few. Ramin was also awarded the prestigious San Francisco Bay Guardian 2014 Goldie Award for Excellence in Visual Art and most recently a fully funded solo exhibition as part of the Stumptown Artist Fellowship Program. Michelle's work is also included in the Jimenez-Colon permanent collection in Puerto Rico. Michelle lives and works in Los Angeles, CA, and is Assistant Professor of Art and the Director & Curator of Norco College Art Gallery at Norco College.