About
Erica Sofer Bodwell
Erica Bodwell (b. 1965) is a painter working in oil and watercolor for close to ten years. Followin the example of artists such as Paula Modersohn-Becker, Chantal Joffe and Zoey Frank, Erica's work engages still life, figuration and abstraction, using color as a primary subject to the interrogate the emotional, political, and phenomenal world. She focuses on "the close view" of subjects, including the gazes of children and women, and the natural world around her, seeking to create work that offers a connection between her subjects and the viewer. Of her award-winning painting, Spangled, judge Iris Williamson stated, “Erica Bodwell’s use of vibrant colors and a flat painting style convey sincerity and approachability. In Spangled, the figures’ gaze directly engages the viewer, expressing deep and tender emotion. The way Bodwell depicts these figures creates a connection; I am eager to learn their stories.” Erica's work asks, Are we present? Do we see each other? Are we paying attention now?
Erica is largely self-taught and has studied with Fran O'Neil and Catherine Lepp at the New York Studio School, as well as at the Kimball-Jenkins School of Art, the Currier Art Museum, and the New Hampshire Technical College Fine Arts program and is a member of the juried New Hampshire Art Association. She is also an accomplished poet with two books of poems, Up Liberty Street (Finishing Line 2017), and Crown of Wild (Two Sylvias 2020), which won the 2018 Two Sylvias Press Wilder Prize. The mother of two grown sons, she works as a healthcare attorney and lives with her husband and two dogs in Concord and Tamworth, New Hampshire. Her first solo show was held at the Cook Memorial Library in Tamworth, New Hampshire in February 2024. In 2025, her work has been included in two group shows in at the Glimpse Gallery in Concord, New Hampshire and in a group show at the AVA Gallery in Lebanon, New Hampshire. In November 2025, her painting, Spangled, won third prize in the juried 26th Annual Joan L. Dunfey exhibit at the New Hampshire Art Association in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
