The Body Holds On Painting

Artist Bio Caren Helene Rudman (b. 1964, Chicago) is an interdisciplinary artist whose work engages questions of health, heredity, and mortality within contemporary life. Informed by her experience as a BRCA gene carrier, her practice examines how bodies are seen, measured, and understood within medical and cultural systems. Working with layered plexiglass, acetate, paint, and unstretched canvas, Rudman creates translucent environments that shift with light, movement, and perspective. Abstracted forms and overlapping silhouettes emerge across layers, inviting acts of looking that emphasize perception, presence, and relational awareness. Her ongoing series merge art and science to address experiences often rendered invisible, including illness, genetic risk, and the emotional weight of medical systems, particularly within the context of women’s health. Rudman earned her MA from New York University through a selective 56-credit program in partnership with the International Center of Photography (ICP). Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally in solo and group exhibitions and is held in private collections across the United States and abroad. Recent highlights include sales at the Hamptons Fine Art Fair and Aqua Miami through Ross Contemporary Art. She is represented by Alma Gallery (Chicago) and serves as Vice President of the Chicago Women’s Caucus for Art.