Maren Brown
Artist Statement:
Maren Brown is an award-winning painter based in Northampton, Massachusetts, whose work has been exhibited widely at museums and galleries in both group and solo exhibitions. For more than thirty years, she has worked in egg tempera—a medium that combines egg yolk, pigment, and water, first popularized in the Renaissance—blending experimental and traditional techniques to create luminous, layered paintings. In recent years, she has also embraced acrylics, drawn to the medium’s immediacy and expressive possibilities.
Her work has been featured in museum exhibitions at the Hill-Stead Museum in Farmington, Connecticut; the New Bedford Art Museum in New Bedford, Massachusetts; and the Attleboro Arts Museum in Attleboro, Massachusetts. She has also exhibited in juried shows selected by leading curators including Carmen Hermo (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston), Alison Rudnick (Metropolitan Museum of Art, who awarded her painting Black Mountain Best in Show in 2025), and Michèle Wije (Yale University Art Gallery).
Maren Brown is an award-winning painter based in Northampton, Massachusetts, whose work has been exhibited widely at museums and galleries in both group and solo exhibitions. For more than thirty years, she has worked in egg tempera—a medium that combines egg yolk, pigment, and water, first popularized in the Renaissance—blending experimental and traditional techniques to create luminous, layered paintings. In recent years, she has also embraced acrylics, drawn to the medium’s immediacy and expressive possibilities.
Her work has been featured in museum exhibitions at the Hill-Stead Museum in Farmington, Connecticut; the New Bedford Art Museum in New Bedford, Massachusetts; and the Attleboro Arts Museum in Attleboro, Massachusetts. She has also exhibited in juried shows selected by leading curators including Carmen Hermo (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston), Alison Rudnick (Metropolitan Museum of Art, who awarded her painting Black Mountain Best in Show in 2025), and Michèle Wije (Yale University Art Gallery).
Artist Bio:
I create abstract paintings in egg tempera and acrylic, using layered processes to explore form, color, and meaning. The centuries-old medium of egg tempera offers luminosity, precision, and a meditative pace, while acrylic allows for immediacy and spontaneity. Together, they provide a balance between structure and intuition, merging tradition with contemporary approaches.
My work often unfolds in series, each offering a distinct lens on shared human experience. Origin(al)s reflects on the promise and ethical complexities of DNA research, while Sacred Bones reimagines skeletal forms as both structural and metaphorical frameworks. The Atmospherics paintings create contemplative, nature-inspired spaces, and Travelogues capture the light, memory, and atmosphere of place. The Prayer Panels embed secular prayers beneath the painted surface in pencil. Over time—20 years or more—these hidden words will emerge, signifying the enduring energy of prayer and private intention, even when invisible.
I create abstract paintings in egg tempera and acrylic, using layered processes to explore form, color, and meaning. The centuries-old medium of egg tempera offers luminosity, precision, and a meditative pace, while acrylic allows for immediacy and spontaneity. Together, they provide a balance between structure and intuition, merging tradition with contemporary approaches.
My work often unfolds in series, each offering a distinct lens on shared human experience. Origin(al)s reflects on the promise and ethical complexities of DNA research, while Sacred Bones reimagines skeletal forms as both structural and metaphorical frameworks. The Atmospherics paintings create contemplative, nature-inspired spaces, and Travelogues capture the light, memory, and atmosphere of place. The Prayer Panels embed secular prayers beneath the painted surface in pencil. Over time—20 years or more—these hidden words will emerge, signifying the enduring energy of prayer and private intention, even when invisible.
