This summer, the Center for Maine Contemporary Art (CMCA) in Rockland, Maine, presents Eyes, the first institutional solo exhibition by Portland-based artist Bianca Beck. On view through September 6, 2026, the exhibition debuts five new papier-mâché sculptures created specifically to pair with Beck’s paintings, revealing how a shared visual language can move between two and three dimensions.
Known for dissolving the boundaries between painting and sculpture, Beck builds expressive papier-mâché forms that suggest the human figure without settling into fixed identities. Layers of paper accumulate into rounded, organic structures before receiving repeated applications of paint. Thick brushstrokes settle into every contour, creating heavily textured surfaces that make color feel almost sculptural itself. For Eyes, each new sculpture was developed alongside a corresponding painting, allowing the two works to evolve together while expanding familiar faces and gestures beyond the canvas.
The sculptures introduce a new physical presence to Beck’s practice. Rising above viewers, their bulbous forms command the gallery while retaining the intimacy of portraiture. Curved edges catch shifting light, revealing ridges of layered paper beneath luminous paint. From every angle, the works reveal new profiles, encouraging visitors to circle each piece and experience the changing relationship between surface, volume, and space.
Throughout the exhibition, Beck’s vivid palette creates continuity between paintings and sculptures. Fluorescent pinks flow into deep purples, while acid greens collide with shimmering cerulean blues. Layer upon layer of paint builds visual depth instead of concealing the material beneath it, allowing every crease and fold of the papier-mâché to remain visible. The result is work that feels simultaneously painted and constructed.
While Beck’s work draws from their experience of queer parenthood and family, Eyes reaches toward broader questions about what it means to grow, change, and exist alongside others. Portraiture becomes a way to consider an entire lifespan within a single form. Drawing on the fractured viewpoints of Cubism and the enduring presence of ancient monuments, Beck’s sculptures suggest that identity is never fixed. Instead, it remains in constant transformation.
Bianca Beck: Eyes remains on view at the Center for Maine Contemporary Art in Rockland, Maine, through September 6, 2026.
The Center for Maine Contemporary Art presents Bianca Beck's first institutional solo exhibition, Eyes.
Bianca Beck, Mirror to mirror / Curving red, 2026. Papier-mâche, wood, steel wire, acrylic and oil paint, steel. 140 x 84 x 36 inches. Courtesy of the artist, Uffner & Liu, and the Center for Maine Contemporary Art. (Photo: Art Index)
Bianca Beck, See Me Plural, 2021. Acrylic and oil on wood panel, with artist-made aluminum frame. 60 x 48 inches. Courtesy of the artist, Uffner & Liu, and the Center for Maine Contemporary Art. (Photo: Art Index)
This exhibition features five new papier-mâché sculptures created specifically to pair with the artist’s vibrant paintings.
Bianca Beck, Stardust we breathe / Skin we shed, 2026. Papier-mâche, wood, steel wire, acrylic and oil paint, steel. 134 x 68 x 36 inches. Courtesy of the artist, Uffner & Liu, and the Center for Maine Contemporary Art. (Photo: Art Index)
Bianca Beck, Red Sun, 2024. Acrylic and oil on wood panel, with artist-made aluminum frame. 60 x 48 inches. Courtesy of the artist, Uffner & Liu, and the Center for Maine Contemporary Art. (Photo: Art Index)
Bianca Beck, Opening, eating / Moving light, 2026. Papier-mâche, wood, steel wire, acrylic and oil paint, steel. 136 x 54 x 36 inches. Courtesy of the artist, Uffner & Liu, and the Center for Maine Contemporary Art. (Photo: Art Index)
Bianca Beck, Na Ne Ni No Nu, 2022. Acrylic and oil on wood panel. 14 x 18 inches. Courtesy of the artist, Uffner & Liu, and the Center for Maine Contemporary Art. (Photo: Art Index)
The sculptures expand Beck’s abstract portraits into three dimensions while exploring identity, transformation, and the many stages of a human life.
Bianca Beck, Eyes on eyes / Tubular sight, 2026. Papier-mâche, wood, steel wire, acrylic and oil paint, steel. 132 x 74 x 36 inches. Courtesy of the artist, Uffner & Liu, and the Center for Maine Contemporary Art (Photo: Art Index)
Bianca Beck, Key, 2024/ Acrylic and oil on wood panel, with artist-made aluminum frame. 60 x 48 inches. Courtesy of the artist, Uffner & Liu, and the Center for Maine
Contemporary Art. (Photo: Art Index)
Bianca Beck. Each star a sun / Neon white, 2026. Papier-mâche, wood, steel wire, acrylic and oil paint, steel. 116 x 54 x 36 inches. Courtesy of the artist, Uffner & Liu, and the Center for Maine Contemporary Art. (Photo: Art Index)
Bianca Beck, Blue and Not Blue, 2024. Acrylic and oil on wood panel, with artist-made aluminum frame. 60 x 48 inches. Courtesy of the artist, Uffner & Liu, and the Center for Maine Contemporary Art. (Photo: Art Index)
Organized by CMCA Curator Grant Wahlquist, Eyes remains on view in Rockland, Maine, through September 6, 2026,
Bianca Beck, Comes a Time, 2024. Acrylic and oil on wood panel, with artist-made aluminum frame. 60 x 48 inches. Courtesy of the artist, Uffner & Liu, and the Center for Maine Contemporary Art. (Photo: Art Index)
Bianca Beck, Umbilical Brain, 2022. Acrylic and oil on wood panel, with artist-made aluminum frame. 24 x 20 inches. Courtesy of the artist, Uffner & Liu, and the Center for Maine Contemporary Art. (Photo: Art Index)
