Mary Curtis Ratcliff
Mary Curtis Ratcliff 67 AE has had an extensive career creating thoughtful, colorful artwork that continues to be exhibited across the country.
After graduating from RISD in 1967, Ratcliff moved to New York, where she was a founding member of the radical collective Videofreex. Then she moved to California in 1973, where she created wind sculptures and ceremonial pieces used in the early eco-feminist movement. Later works continued to unite fabric and craft with a sculptural sense of design.
Ratcliff began to concentrate primarily on 2-dimensional work in 1999, integrating photography, drawing, painting, and image transfer techniques in multi-layered, intricate explorations of nature, pattern and perception. Over the past six years, she has returned to circular, kinetic sculptures that now incorporate her photographic imagery.
Ratcliff's work has been shown in over 140 exhibitions around the world. It is in the collections of the Oakland Museum of California and The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. She has participated in residencies in the United States, France, Japan, and New Zealand. She lives and works in Berkeley, CA and is a member of both Oakland’s Mercury 20 Gallery and the Siy Gallery in San Francisco.
Recently, Ratcliff has created the Healing Circle Project, which connects patients and caregivers to her nature-inspired artwork in an effort to further recovery, resiliency and balance.
