I paint that which I have no other words for. I can say in color, texture and paint what is not visible on the surface. I cannot explain how or why the process works the way it does. I only know that I am profoundly grateful for it. It is such a tender honor to connect to and explore the depths inside these women. It is the radical vulnerability of each woman that allows me access to her essence. Vulveré is the witnessing of how the choices, the moments of lifetimes, have come to rest inside the structure of who a woman is. These are paintings, and they are living representations of what exists inside the space between myself and the woman. It’s her in relationship to herself, her story, tethered and filtered through my hands. The more I trust, the more accurate this process becomes, forever changing both the woman and myself.
This work, these experiences of extreme vulnerability, of trust, and of reverence are so powerful and so profound and so much bigger than I ever imagined they would be. This work is for women, everywhere. And, it is also for men. It is to give permission to women to be the full spectrum of all they are and to kindle, for men, a recognition of the power and deep beauty of "the lesser sex". It gives permission, to each of us, to tend to the depths of our own longings and our own instincts. I have had women in tears, women tell me that this work made them feel like they could be wilder, like they could get a little bigger in the world. A theme of radical self-acceptance has emerged. In the last seven years of doing this work, I have come to realize this is about much more than simply me as an artist. The deeper I go into this project, the more I understand why this is a thing the world needs. A thing we all need: to be witnessed in our entirety and worshipped completely, as we are.
It started with a vision. Laying on a friends couch in Harlem in the haziness between sleep and waking, I saw myself having a show, a radical show of vulva-based artworks. A show in which women felt sacred in a very real and very visceral way, and men were welcome 'with an offering'. It came over me and filled me completely. It was like lightening ran through my veins. It was more than a little surreal. After the vision, I lay there shaken. Not sure what had come over me, and certain that I would return to ‘normal’ by morning. I should note that at that moment I hadn't picked up a paintbrush in 5 years. I had also never really even seen my own vulva. What I was envisioning was more than a little outside my box so to speak. The next morning, however, I couldn't get the vision out of my head. Nor could I the next week. Finally, feeling like I was going to burst, I told my then-husband. He told me I should do it. I told him he was crazy. The next person I confessed to was my study-buddy at the women's workshop I was in. She asked if she could be my first. I was stunned. Long story short, she ended up flying in, from Amsterdam, to do a live sketching session with me. The resulting 5 foot painting became one of the most profound experiences either one of us had ever had. It was this piece, and the resulting 5-minute-long standing ovation it got form the 100+ women at the workshop, that ultimately told me there was no going back.
Whatever it was that came into me that night in Harlem has not let me rest since. It has been patiently driving me from the inside, culling experience, and honing my senses, demanding everything, while giving me more than I ever imagined. My life is almost unrecognizable from what it was that night. And I could not be more grateful for it. I remain humbled and in awe of what is possible through human connection.
Naked in Santa Fe, Curated Group Exhibition, Offroad Productions Gallery, April 2017, Sant Fe, NM
Solo Exhibit and Lecture Series, September 11-17th 2016, Esalen Institute, Big Sur, CA
Solo Exhibit Beltane Fesitval by Invitation Only, May 2016, Private Residence, Santa Fe, NM
Solo Exhibit, February 2016, Temple and Tribe, Santa Fe, NM selected works on continuous exhibit through 2017
Solo Exhibit by Invitation Only, December 2015, Harlem, NY
PUSSY by Regena Thomashauer, medical illustration by Ranier Wood p.92 2016 New York Times Best Seller
Living Juicy, a radio interview with Ranier Amiel + Rhea Goodman 2016
The Voice of Santa Fe, a radio interview with Ranier Amiel + Julia Goldberg 2015
THE Magazine, September 2015 issue
Makers Muse Award, Kindle Project Maker's Muse recipient 2015
Ripe to Life, a radio interview with Ranier Amiel + Jenny Antill 2014
“Everything you see has its roots in the unseen world. The forms may change yet the essence remains the same.”