Sascha Braunig: Wrist Painter

November 13, 2026 through March 14, 2027 

Sascha Braunig’s paintings exist within a genealogy of feminist art where the body is posed as a problem—something to pull apart, to interrogate, to stretch beyond recognition.

For Braunig, embodiment and its limitations for expressing gender are of utmost concern. In the vein of such forebears as Christina Ramberg and Kiki Kogelnik, the body operates as a sign; one to which Braunig applies various pressures to fully understand its social significance. In her canvases, the viewer encounters skeletal torsos that have been compressed, pulled, and ripped apart, painted with the precision of European Old Masters. Braunig’s work draws on surrealist influences, exploring the female form to question traditional roles and expectations. Like Kogelnik, she examines how everyday symbols shape ideas of womanhood in daily life, turning familiar images into thought-provoking commentary. 

Sascha Braunig: Wrist Painter is a midcareer retrospective that will include examples from across different periods of her corpus, as well as preparatory sketches, maquettes, drawings, and sculptural work. It will be the most extensive show of hers to date, following up on museum solo presentations at the Oakville Galleries in Ontario (2022), Kunsthall Stavanger in Norway (2016), and MoMA PS1 (2016). Visitors will be encouraged to reflect on the way gendered signs and symbols function in our everyday lives, while also considering the place of highly technical, abstract, and conceptual practices within a broader arts landscape in New England, primarily known for landscapes and marine paintings. 

ABOUT THE CURATOR

Sayantan Mukhopadhyay joined the Portland Museum of Art in 2023 following the completion of his PhD at the University of California, Los Angeles, with doctoral research focusing on queer aesthetics in contemporary Indian art during the end of the 20th century. With a background in education, publishing, and the visual arts, Sayantan has contributed to numerous exhibitions including Precious: The Value of Ornament, Grace Hartigan: The Gift of Attention, and As We Are, an exhibition showcasing emerging artists with strong ties to Maine. Mukhopadhyay holds a BA in art history from Williams College, as well as a master’s degree and PhD in art history from UCLA.