Born in India in 1980, Priyanka Rana’s early inquiries into aesthetics and philosophy and professional work in exhibitions led her to establish a full-time sculpture practice in 2018. Largely self-taught, Rana’s experiments with various sculptural materials have led to a nearly-singular engagement with untreated wood. Her practice is rooted in ecology and sustainability; she works with local trees, transforming naturally felled trunks into abstract sculptures using a range of power tools. Rana chars many of her surfaces, which she likens to “painting with fire.” 

Central to Rana’s work is the interplay between that which is dangerous and delicate. While the main tools for sculpting with wood – chainsaws, handsaws, and a torch –  require extreme care, including protective clothing and safety protocols, many of the artist’s works are completed amidst the sociality of a home dinner table. The artist collects domestic and intimate materials, such as fabric from saris and children’s toys that are then treated with polyurethane and spray paint, using these to intervene in the wood. 

Through pairing with softer household materials, Rana’s largely abstract works invoke questions of migration and nostalgia, with individual toys speaking to specific moments and places that her multicultural community calls home, as well as her own personal history across three continents. 

As Rana continues to grow her practice, she has embarked on exploratory projects in other mediums including aluminum and processes such as 3D printing, and has engaged with figural and symbolic forms that extend her central concerns. 

Living and working in San Francisco, California’s Bay Area, Rana’s work has been shown widely in the region, including at a number of arts festivals and through prestigious and highly visible public art commissions. 

Priyanka Rana

b. 1980, lives and works in San Francisco Bay Area, California

Education

2019-20, Metal Sculpting and Sculpting, West Valley College, Saratoga, CA

2019, Workshop with China Pal, Kumartoli, Kolkata

2018, School of Visual Philosophy, San Jose, CA

2004, MBA, Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management, Delhi, India (attended 2002–2004)

2001, MA (Economics), Punjab University, Chandigarh, India (attended 2001)

2001, BA (Economics, Mathematics, English Literature), MCM, Chandigarh, India (attended 1999–2001)

Solo Shows/Public Installations

2024, Inner Life, Cabrillo College Gallery, Aptos

2022, Echo, installation of public artwork, commissioned by Dublin, CA 

2022, Slice of Green, installation of public artwork, commissioned by Dublin, CA                                           

2022, Memories are the Antidotes, solo exhibition, International Art Museum of America, San Francisco, CA

2021, Window of Inspiration, installation of public artwork at Johnson Park, CA, commissioned by the city of Palo Alto

Group Shows

2024, A Question of Balance, Museum of Sonoma County, Santa Rosa, CA

2024, Socle Du Monde, Upper Market gallery, San Francisco, CA

2024, Metamorphosis, Mercury20 Gallery, Oakland, CA

2023, Autumn's Palette, Online show, O’Hanlon Center for the Arts, Mills Valley, CA

2023, 17th annual Pajaro Valley Arts (PVA) sculpture exhibition, Watsonville, California

2023, Aurora-Health &Humanities, Catalyst Gallery, University of California, Irvine

2023, Annual Fundraiser for Nimbus Arts, Napa Valley, CA

2023, Art Market SF Fair, Gallery 1202      

2023, Huq, I seek no favor, Gallery 5, San Jose State University

2022 Showcasing of selected local artists, San Jose Playhouse, San Jose

2022, South Asian Literature & Art Festival, Montalvo Art Center, Saratoga, CA

2022, Silicon Valley Sculpture Fair, Menlo College, Menlo Park, CA

2022, Restart, Palo Alto Art Center, Palo Alto, CA

2022, Wall2Wall annual auction, Sonoma Valley Museum of Art, Sonoma, CA      

2021, Silicon Valley Sculpture Fair, Menlo College, Menlo Park, CA

2021, 100th Anniversary of the Pacific Art League, Palo Alto, CA          

2021, KQEDArts Instagram, featured artist of the week 

2021, Slice of Life, San Francisco Women Artists, San Francisco, CA                                                                 

2021, ‘What’s Next for Earth’, participatory art project for The Millennium Alliance for for The Humanity and Biosphere; available from https://mahb.stanford.edu/arts-community/whats-next-for-earth-project/

2020, Outside the Box, Healdsburg Center for the Arts, Healdsburg, CA

2020, California Sculpture SLAM, San Luis Obispo Museum of Art, CA 

2021, large wood sculpture private commission, Los Altos Hills

Employment

Market Research Consultant, Evalueserve, Gurgaon, India (2004–2005)

Sr. Consultant, Zinnov, India / USA (2006–2008)

CEO and Founder, EventStylists, Foster City, CA (2009–2011)

Vice President-Client Services, Ten23, San Francisco, CA (2012–2013)

Vice President and Founder, BollywoodYourself, Atherton, CA (2014–2017)