I’m an artist living in Brooklyn, NY.
I make process-driven sculpture and prints about transformation, and am inspired by the lifecycles of invertebrates and celestial bodies.
I use clay, paper, street trash, and household chemicals to create work that is in flux—reconfigurable sculptures animated by airflow and vibration; prints that change over time due to reactive compounds used in their creation.
All are exercises in letting go.
BIOGRAPHY
Ralston earned a BFA from Hartford Art School in West Hartford, Connecticut, and an MS in Ecological Teaching & Learning from Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Careers in both graphic design and environmental education inform her process and subject matter.
She has had solo shows at Manifest Gallery in Cincinnati, OH; Gallery GAIA in Brooklyn, NY; Three Rivers Gallery in Norwich, CT; and the Gowanus Dredgers Boathouse in Brooklyn, NY; and participated in group exhibitions at New York Artists Equity Gallery, New York, NY; Schweinfurth Art Center, Auburn, NY; CREATE Council on the Arts, Catskill, NY; Silvermine Galleries, New Canaan, CT; Five Points Arts Center, Torrington, CT; Long Beach Island Foundation of the Arts & Sciences, Loveladies, NJ; Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL; Williamsburg Art & Historical Center, Brooklyn, NY; St. Joseph’s University, Brooklyn, NY; Shirley Project Space, Brooklyn, NY; Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition, Brooklyn, NY; and Gallery GAIA, Brooklyn, NY.
In 2020, Ralston and fellow artists Miska Draskoczy and Kasia Zurek-Doule established the artist-run collective Gowanus Night Heron to create novel exhibition opportunities for local artists.
She lives and works in New York City.
EXHIBITION HISTORY
Current and Upcoming
12x12, Established Gallery, Brooklyn, NY / curated by Emily Chiavelli / December 12, 2024 – January 12, 2025
New Members Show, Silvermine Galleries, New Canaan, CT / January 11 – February 6, 2025
2024
Salon des Refusés 2024, Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition, Brooklyn, NY
74th A-ONE, Silvermine Gallery, New Canaan, CT / curated by Lisa Carlsen
Lost and Found, Manifest Creative Research Gallery, Cincinnati, OH
Mother & Daughter: Mixed Media Prints by Nancy Ralston and Bonnie Ralston, Simsbury Public Library, Simsbury, CT
Five Points 2024 Printmaking Juried Exhibition, Five Points Arts Center / Torrington, CT / juried by Donna Frustere
video projections with Unheard-of Ensemble for June 14 Cultural Ecologies Series: Not in Fact Dead performance
Natural Manipulation, CREATE Council on the Arts, Catskill, NY / curated by Monika Zarzeczna and Stella Yoon
2023
Sculptors Who Paint and Print: Abbyssinian Carto, Bonnie Ralston and Harold Wortsman, St. Joseph’s University, Brooklyn, NY / curated by Laura Horne
Bottom Feeders: Recent Sculpture & Work in Progress, Gallery GAIA, Brooklyn [solo]
Unearthed, Shirley Project Space, Crown Heights, NY / curated by Clare Burson and Sarah May
Beyond Mud: Ceramics 2023, Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition, Red Hook, NY / juried by Nicole Shiroma
Fired Up: Ceramic Art by BWAC Members, Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition, Red Hook, NY
2022
2022 NYAE Members Invitational, New York Artists Equity Association, Manhattan, NY / juried by Ambre Kelley, Michael Brennan, Robyn Gibson, Christopher Stout
The Brooklyn Watercolor Society and Friends: A Water Show, Gallery GAIA, Brooklyn, NY / curated by Christian Le Gars
Rust Show: Bonnie Ralston and Joe Banish, Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition, Red Hook, NY
Benthic, Gowanus Dredgers Canoe Club Boathouse, Brooklyn, NY / curated by Pam Wong [solo]
Elemental Effects, The Long Beach Island Foundation of the Arts & Sciences, Loveladies, NJ / juried by Linda Weintraub
The Elements, Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition, Red Hook, NY / juried by Scout Hutchinson
Fragile Rainbow: Traversing Habitats, ecoartspace at Williamsburg Art & Historical Center, Brooklyn, NY / curated by Sue Spaid
Made in New York, Schweinfurth Art Center, NY / juried by Ellen Blalock, Gina Murtagh, and Kim Waale
Uncommon Prints x Common Matrices, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL / juried by Cathie Ruggie Saunders
Accretion: Sculpture & Prints by Bonnie Ralston, Manifest Creative Research Gallery, Cincinnati, OH [solo]
2021
Gowanus Night Heron: Case Study, Brooklyn, NY
Arts Gowanus presents Gowanus In the Abstract, Gowanus in Perspective, Brooklyn, NY
Pluralities, Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition, Red Hook, NY
Metal, Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, OH / juried
Prints 2021, Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition, Red Hook, NY / juried by Kim Conaty
Gowanus Night Heron pop-up group show, Brooklyn, NY
New Editions, Indianapolis Art Center, Indianapolis, IN / juried
Through Artist Eyes, Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition, Red Hook, NY
2020
Currents, Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition, Red Hook, NY
Art From the Inside, Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition, Red Hook, NY
2019
Bonnie Ralston: Traces, Three Rivers Gallery, Norwich, CT [solo]
2018
17th Tokyo-New York Ceramic Competition, Nippon Gallery, Manhattan, NY
AWARDS & HONORS
Juror’s Award—First Place, Elements, Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition, awarded by Scout Hutchinson, 2022
PRESS
Tussle Magazine, Beyond Mud, 2023
Art Hag, Bonnie Ralston | Benthic, 2022
Art Hag, Gowanus Night Heron, 2020
