About Paula Roland
Bio
Paula Roland is a life-long artist and teacher with an MFA in painting and sculpture from the University of New Orleans. After many years of teaching painting and drawing at the college level, Paula found a niche specializing in encaustic monotype printing and related encaustic topics. Since 1996, these processes and materials have informed and inspired her own works, and in turn, inspired her teaching.
Born on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, Paula spent much of her adult life living and working in nearby New Orleans. Her works address the extremes in nature and the natural world’s nexus with ecology, science, art, and spirit. Since the early 1980s, her works have examined natural phenomena and human interaction. Drawn to areas with a strong sense of place that are culturally rich, diverse, and visually inspiring, Roland moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1989.
“Living near Los Alamos National Labs and Chaos Theory think tanks has led to a heightened interest in science, including systems, fractals, and strange attractors. In recent works, I examine ecology through intuitive mapping, finding my way in rapidly changing environments in the natural world through my art. I choose materials for their ability to be somewhat unpredictable or have the ability to change and therefore partner with me in making the work. This process circumvents preconceived ideas and opens me to new possibilities. I engage with the image and medium in a direct and intimate way. With encaustic printing, thought and action are one, much like improvisational music or dance.”
Roland’s awards include commissions from the National Endowment for the Arts and for the US Department of State’s American Embassies in South Africa and Uganda. She was awarded residencies at VCCA in Virginia and in France, and two at the Santa Fe Art Institute, working with Lynda Benglis and with Elizabeth Murray. Articles on Paula Roland have appeared in New American Painting, Surface Design Journal, Artist’s Magazine, New Mexico Magazine, the Santa Fean Magazine and Vasari21 online art magazine. Her works are included in books and media on art, encaustic and installation.
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
| 2016 | Uncharted, William Siegal Gallery, Santa Fe, NM |
| 2014 | Natural Causes, Smink Gallery, Dallas, TX Navigating, New Encaustic Monotypes, Paula Roland. Conrad Wilde Gallery, Tucson, AZ |
| 2013 | Newlandia, New Works by Paula Roland. William Siegal Gallery, Santa Fe, NM |
| 2012 | SIZZLE! Hot Wax Prints by Paula Roland. Anya Tish Gallery, Houston, TX Paula Roland, Smink Gallery, Dallas, TX |
| 2011 | Beauty’s Language, William Siegal Gallery, Santa Fe, NM |
| 2009 | Poetics of Pattern, Gallery at R & F Handmade Paints, Kingston, NY |
| 2008 | For the Bees, Moulin`a Nef, Auvillar, France |
| 2004 | One of a Kind: Encaustic Monotype by Paula Roland, Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art, Biloxi, MS |
| 2003 | Synesthesia: New Work by Paula Roland, in Three Parts, Chiaroscuro, Santa Fe, NM |
| 1988 | Post Natural Selections I, Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, LA |
| 1986 | Introductions, Harris Gallery, Houston, TX |
| 1985 | Festival of New Works, Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, LA. Curator: Roberta Smith |
Selected Group Exhibitions
| 2018 | Paperworks 3, Summer Art Selections, Smink, Houston MCHugh, Christine. “Some Like it Hot, Paula Roland-Earthly Forms–Monotypes”. The Artist’s Magazine, Keep it 100 Invitational, On Center Gallery, Provincetown, MA. Curator: Winston Lee Mascarenhas |
| 2017 | The 27th Annual ArtsThrive, Invited Artist, Albuquerque Museum of Art |
| 2016 | Paperworks, Smink Inc, Dallas, TX |
| 2014 | Women And Print, Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery, Scripps College, Claremont, CA. Group Invitational Exhibition Detroit Connections: Detroit Women Printmakers And Their Mentors, N’Namdi Center for Contemporary Art, Detroit, MI. Group Invitational. Mid America Print Council Conference Swept Away: Translucence, Transparence, and Transcendence In Contemporary Encaustic Art Hunterdon Art Museum, Clinton, NJ. Curator: Michael Giaquinto |
| 2013 | Obscure/Reveal, James Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA Third Annual Massively Small Exhibition, J Go Gallery, Park City, Utah Swept Away: Translucence, Transparence, and Transcendence In Contemporary Encaustic Art Cape Cod Museum of Art. Curator: Michael Giaquinto Losing Ground, Gaining Perspective, Gallery X, Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill, Truro, MA Curator: Natalie Abrams |
| 2012 | Lady Minimalist’s Tea Society, Project Space, ART Santa Fe, International Art Fair. Santa Fe, NM On and Off the Wall: Invitational Encaustic Monotype Exhibition, Glassell Gallery, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA. Kathleen Lemoine, Curator Hot Off The Press – New Encaustic Printmaking, Invitational, Gallery at R&F Handmade Paints, Kingston, NY. David A. Clark, Curator Future of the Past, Invited Artist, MASS WAX / International Encaustic Artists, Boston Center for the Arts, Boston, MA |
| 2011 | High Contrast, Conrad Wilde Gallery, Tucson, AZ |
| 2010 | Pollination: Encaustic Works from New Mexico, Santa Fe Arts Commission Gallery, Santa Fe, NM |
| 2009 | 25 F: Encaustic Encounters, Turchin Center for the Arts, Boone, NC. Curator: Brook Bower Beauty and Its Opposites, 3rd National Encaustic Painting Conference, Montserrat College of Art, Beverly MA Juror: Nick Capasso. Encaustic Works 2009 R & F Biennial, Castle Gallery, College of New Rochelle, NY. Juror: Heather Hutchison |
| 2007 | Fall invitational, Galleri Urbane, Marfa, Texas (during the Chinati Open House) |
| 2003 | The Whole Ball of Wax, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago. Juror: Joanne Mattera ART Santa Fe 2003, International Art Fair, Santa F |
| 2002 | Lush Abstraction, Melanee Cooper Gallery, Chicago |
| 2001 | Originals, New Mexico Committee, National Museum for Women in Arts, Harwood Museum, Taos |
| 2000 | Beaux Arts, Plan B/ Center for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe. Jurors: James Kelly, Linda Durham, Louis Grachos, Sarah S. King, and Stuart Ashman 24th Annual National Invitational Drawing Exhibition, Emporia State University, Emporia, KS |
| 1999 | Exhibition in Print, New American Painting, The Open Studio Press, Vol. 24, Oct-Nov. Curator: Lisa Phillips, Director, New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, NY Contemporary Art 1999, Los Alamos, NM, Award Best of Show Juror: Louis Grachos, |
| 1995 | Mostra 95 Invitational, Invitational, Museo ItaloAmericano, San Francisco, CA |
| 1989 | Biennial Five, Birmingham Museum of Art, 1989 Juror: Susan Krane, Director, High Museum, Atlanta, GA |
| 1987 | Art for Art’s Sake, Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, LA (also 1985 and 1986) The Louisiana Competition, Louisiana Arts and Science Center, Baton Rouge, LA Fifth Annual Exhibition of Louisiana Women Artists, West Baton Rouge Museum, Baton Rouge, LA Selections One, Invitational at the University of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA |
| 1986 | MajorMini Works, Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, LA |
| 1985 | 28th Annual Delta Art Exhibition, Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock., AR Juror: James Surls Frozen in Time: A Last Resort, The Last Ride, Contemporary Arts Center, Pontchartrain Beach, New Orleans, LA * |
| 1984 | The Third Coast, Art League of Houston, Houston, TX National Works on Paper, Spokane , WA National Women’s Art Exhibition, Women’s Pavilion, Louisiana World Exposition, New Orleans, LA. Jurors: Ida Kohlmeyer, Josine Ianco Starrels, and Lowery Stokes Sims |
Education
Education
M.F.A. University of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA, Painting and Sculpture
B.A. St. Mary’s Dominican College, New Orleans, LA, Painting
Professional Programs
R&F Handmade Paints, Kingston, NY, encaustic studies with Cynthia Winika
College of Santa Fe, encaustic studies with Richard Frumess and Pamela Blum
New York Studio School, The Drawing Marathon
Santa Fe Art Institute, Residency with Elizabeth Murray
Santa Fe Art Institute, Residency with Lynda Benglis
distinctions
Selected Awards & Grants
Artists Fellowship | Anderson Ranch Art Center, Advanced Printmaking Studio Critique
Presenter | 8th and 9th International Encaustic Painting Conferences, “Using Graphite and Wax”. Provincetown, MA
Co-Presenter | w/Jennie Frederick. 7th Int’l Encaustic Painting Conference, “Encaustic Prints with Kozo Fiber” Provincetown, MA
Panel Participant | Encoding and Decoding our Work, Sixth International Encaustic Painting Conference, Provincetown, MA
Award | La Vendéenne Award for Innovation, International Encaustic Artists, 2013
Award | Beauty and Its Opposites, 3rd Annual Encaustic Painting Conference, Beverly, MA. Juror: Nick Copasso, De Cordova Museum, 2009
Artist Fellowship | Virginia Center for Creative Arts Residency Abroad Program, Auvillar, France 2008
Artist Fellowship | Virginia Center for Creative Arts, Residency, Sweet Briar, VA, 2001
Award | One-person show, Best of Show, Contemporary Art 1999, Juror: Louis Grachos, Director, Site Santa Fe
Tamarind Printmaking Award | Contemporary ‘97, Juror: Louis Grachos, Director, Site Santa Fe, 1997
Faculty Development Grant | Institute of American Indian Arts to attend The Drawing Marathon, New York Studio School, 1995
Grant | Santa Fe Art Institute and IAIA, Residency with Elizabeth Murray, 1995
Grant | Santa Fe Art Institute and IAIA , Residency with Lynda Benglis, 1993
Award | The Louisiana Competition, Juror: Lowery Stokes Sims, Curator, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1987
Art in Public Places Endowed Commission | National Endowment for the Arts, 1986
Award | One‑person Show, Festival of New Works, Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, 1985. Curator: Roberta Smith, New York Times
Installation Grant | The Last Ride, Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, LA, 1985
Residencies
Anderson Ranch Art Center, Advanced Printmaking Studio Critique with Orit Hofshi
Moulin a’ Nef, Artist’s Residency in Auvillar France through Virginia Center For Creative Arts
R&F Handmade Paints, Kingston, NY, encaustic studies with Cynthia Winika
College of Santa Fe, encaustic studies with Richard Frumess and Pamela Blum
New York Studio School, The Drawing Marathon
Santa Fe Art Institute, Residency and Studies with Elizabeth Murray
Santa Fe Art Institute, Residency and Studies with Lynda Benglis
Virginia Center for Creative Arts | Artist’s Residency, Sweet Briar, VA, 2001
Public Collections & Commissions
United States Department of State | American Embassy, Johannesburg, South Africa
Agilent Technologies, Inc | Palo Alto, CA
Children’s Hospital | New Orleans, LA
City National Bank | Baton Rouge, LA
U. S. Department of State | American Embassy, Kampala, Uganda
Lowe Investments | Jackson, MS
Novelle, Inc. | Provo, Utah
R&F Handmade Paints | Kingston, NY
Jackson-George Regional Library | (NEA Art in Public Places Commission), Pascagoula, MS
Commission | Orrick, Herrington, and Sutcliffe, Menlo Park, CA,
Commission | United States Department of State, American Embassy, Kampala, Uganda
Commission | Agilent Technologies, Palo Alto, CA