Raina Elsner will be our next Libi Eir Mikveh artist-in-residence. Join us in celebrating Raina's installation with an artist-in-residence open house just after Shabbat services. 

Biography
Raina Elsner received a BFA in Painting from Hartford Art School (1992) and an MA in Art Education from Brooklyn College (1998). She also studied at The Art Students League of New York; SACI College of Art & Design in Florence, Italy, and Oxford, England; and Penland School of Craft. When living in New York, Raina worked as the studio assistant for the artist Mary Frank and taught art in NYC public schools and art education at Brooklyn College. In 2011, Raina and her family moved to North Carolina, where she taught at the Lerner School until 2021. Raina is now committed to her studio art practice full-time. She recently exhibited works on paper in a group show at Studio 9D in Chelsea, NYC, and has another group show in Chelsea this spring at NYC Crit Club. Raina is delighted to be a 2024 Artist-in-Residence at Libi Eir Mikveh. In her own words, “Libi Eir is a special and deeply spiritual place in our community, and it is a great honor to have my work be a part of the experience.” Raina lives and works in Chapel Hill, NC.

Artist Statement
I am a painter. My work is painterly and abstract, with imagery that hints at familiar structures, like cells, electrical currents, architecture, landscape, while remaining mysterious, otherworldly, and deeply personal. Geometric patterns act as scaffolds that sometimes hold together, sometimes fall apart, exploring the limits of interconnection and separation.

My process entails investigating the subterrain of my life. I start each painting with an initial idea or feeling and follow its lead in pursuit of something still murky and uncertain. I add color or scrape it away, playing with what’s covered and what’s exposed, observing the lines, edges, shapes, and relationships, allowing my intuition to guide me. I wander in the unknown, taking risks and encountering surprises, as I search for – and discover – something real.