Erika Manning is a mixed media artist and educator rooted in the disparate values of Abstract Expressionism, the Blue Rider School, and Surrealism, as well as the concepts and practices of Yoga. In her work, she explores the in - between places of landscape and consciousness. The still spaces where we can rest our attention, as well as the intertidal spaces where change happens. Her paintings are directly created through meditation and are inspired by the the landscape of mid-coast Maine. While non-representational, Erika's paintings loosely reference ocean, rock, seaweed, fog, stars and trees, as well as the in between places where water meets land and the built environment. She is interested in maritime charts as well as topographical maps and much of her work gives the sense of being done from an aerial perspective. While she works toward a finished image, the beauty for her is in the the process of creating, which she sees as a spiritual practice of self discovery.
Erika has gallery representation in New England, and has work in collections throughout the United States. She teaches courses on unleashing one’s creativity, traditional studio arts, and healing through the visual arts. Erika was an artist - in residence at the Downtown Studio in Rockland, ME, as well as Mercersburg Academy in Mercersburg PA. She also participated in Fresh To Salt in PortClyde ME, and the Yellow Chair Artist Salon residency based in NYC. In 1993 Erika received a BFA from The Art Institute of Boston with a focus on printmaking and sculpture.
Solo Exhibitions
2025 Triangle Gallery, Rockland, ME
2024 Thornton Oaks, Brunswick, ME
2022 Pop Up! Dwelling In Maine, Camden, ME
2019 Color, Zoot, Camden, ME
Selections From The Harbor Series, Dwelling in Maine, Camden, ME
Abstractions, Center Pilates, Rockport, ME
2018 New Works, The Art Loft, Rockland, ME
Pop Up!, Maine Art Hill, Kennebunk, ME
2017 New Abstractions, Center for Health and Healing, Rockland, ME
Conversations On A Process, Cofrin Gallery, Mercersburg PA
Conversations On A Process (Revisited), Zoot, Camden, ME
2011 Musings (Revisited), Zoot, Camden, ME
2009 Musings On 2009, The Badger, Union, ME
2003 Selections From The Devil’s Bedsheets, Gallery 407, Rockland, ME
Almost Abstract, Stadler Gallery, Kingfield, ME
1999 New Abstractions, New Hampton School, New Hampton, NH
Group Exhibitions
2024 3 Women Of The Abstract ( Revisited ), Arts In The Barn, Cushing, ME
First Anniversary Show, Triangle Gallery, Rockland, ME
2023 Small, Not Small, Triangle Gallery, Rockland, ME
Abstractions, Triangle Gallery, Rockland, ME
Season Opener, Arts In The Barn, Cushing, ME
2022 3 Women Of The Abstract, Arts In The Barn, Cushing, ME
Camden Life Drawing Show, Page Gallery, Camden, ME
Artful Escapes, Art3 Gallery, Manchester, NH
Layered: Color and Texture, Art3 Gallery, Manchester, NH
2021 Color, Maine Art, Kennebunk, ME
Out of The Box, Art3 Gallery, Manchester, NH
Abstract!, River Arts Gallery, Damariscotta, ME
Artful Escapes, Art3 Gallery, Manchester, NH
Yellow Chair and Friends, Virtual Artsy Show
2020 Simple Pleasures, Art3 Gallery, Manchester, NH
New Beginnings, CPL/KCAS virtual show, Camden, ME
2019 Fall Back, Art3 Gallery, Manchester, NH
Women Of Casco Bay, Casco Bay Artisans, Portland, ME
Art Heals, Wellness Designed, Camden, ME
2018 Selections From The Gallery, Casco Bay Artisans, Portland, ME
2017 Linear Style, NoRo Gallery,Rockland, ME
2010 44N 64W Radius Belfast, Aarhus Gallery, Belfast, ME
2007 Distaff, Judith Gallery, Boothbay Harbor, ME
2007 LSC Invitational, Lincoln Street Center, Rockland, ME
2006 LSC Invitational, Lincoln Street Center, Rockland, ME
2005 LSC Invitational, Lincoln Street Center, Rockland, ME
2004 LSC Invitational, Lincoln Street Center, Rockland, ME
2004 Show Your Friends, Lincoln Street Center, Rockland, ME
2003 Culture, Traveling UMVA Show, Searsmont & Ellsworth ME
Musings, Gallery 407, Rockland, ME
Selections From UMVA, The Gallery at the Barn, Waldoboro, ME
2001 Selections From The Devil’s Beedsheets, St. George Pottery, Saint George, ME
1995 Duplicity Of Multitudinous Sin, The Artist Eye Gallery, Hampton, NH
1995 Student Printmakers, Wheeler Gallery, UMass at Amherst, MA
1993 Student Printmakers, The Art Institute of Boston, Boston, MA
1992 Student Printmakers, The Copley Society, Boston, MA
1991 Student Sculptors, Middlesex Community College, Middletown, CT
1989 Printmakers Invitational, Guilford Arts and Crafts Society, Guilford, CT
Collections
The Art Institute of Boston, Boston, MA
Middlesex Community College, Middletown, CT
Artist In Residence
2018 The Downtown Studio, Rockland, ME
2017 Mercersburg Academy, Mercersburg, PA
Artist Residency
2023 Fresh To Salt, Port Clyde, ME
2020 The Yellow Chair Salon, Virtual Residency, NY, NY
Teaching
Farnsworth Art Museum, Knox County Art Society, Mercersburg Academy, The Downtown Studio, Blue Crow Studio, Sierra Club, Family Council Services of Maine, Partners in Ending Hunger
Education
1993 BFA, The Art Institute of Boston, Boston, MA