Priyanka Rana

Sculptor — untreated California redwood
San Francisco Bay Area · b. India, 1980

Priyanka
RANA

Ecology, material intelligence, and the layered temporalities held within wood.

View the index of works
Dream — a carved cylindrical wood sculpture, its rust-red surface inscribed with dark biomorphic figures, on a black base against a grey-green studio backdrop. Featured — Dream

“In India, trees are regarded as wise, sentient beings … in California, abundantly available reclaimed wood expanded the scale and ambition of her practice.”

B. 1980, India Full-time practice since 2018 Public commissions — Palo Alto & Dublin, CA Etched on nanofiche in a lunar time capsule, 2025

Collection — 01

Painting with Fire

Reducing mass, increasing surface area, charring the wood — a technique the artist calls painting with fire. Fire carries a dual reading: ritual, from an Indian upbringing; and climate, in California. The redwoods’ cyclical relationship with fire often leads to renewal and new growth.

Holding Hope — nodular charred redwood, ember-orange growth rings glowing through the black, crowned with a neon-green rim.
Pl. 10Holding Hope Charred redwood, acrylic · 2025
Two Bodies, Healing — a tall charred wood blade in profile, stitched cuts glinting gold along its edge.
Pl. 03Two Bodies, Healing Charred untreated wood · 2022
Invitation to Play — charred redwood beams banded with multicolored threads, leaned into a triangle on park grass.
Pl. 07Invitation to Play Redwood, multicolored threads · outdoor

Index of Works

Material
Setting
Touch
Year

Showing 20 of 20 works

Filters match recorded catalogue details — works still being catalogued appear under the full index.

Dream — carved wood cylinder seen from above, rust-red surface inscribed with dark figures.
Pl. 01Dream Newly photographed · 7 motion studies
Reeds — a rounded wood form sprouting a sheaf of slender green anodized-aluminium reeds.
Pl. 02Reeds Douglas fir, anodized aluminium · 2023
Two Bodies, Healing — a tall charred wood blade standing against a grey studio backdrop.
Pl. 03Two Bodies, Healing Charred untreated wood · 2022
Memory Palace — twelve carved black redwood pillars banded with brightly colored handwoven threads.
Pl. 04Memory Palace Redwood pillars, handwoven threads · 2025
Healing 3 — a tall charred blue-black obelisk stitched with copper-orange crosses, against a deep blue backdrop.
Pl. 05Healing 3
Memories — a hollowed wood ring on a black steel stand, its interior lined with soft fabric memory pods.
Pl. 06Memories Wood, sari fabric, polyurethane · series — Memories are the Antidotes
Invitation to Play — monumental charred redwood forms with multicolored threads, installed outdoors on grass.
Pl. 07Invitation to Play Redwood, threads · outdoor · interactive
New growth — a charred, nodular carved vessel crowned with a jagged neon-green rim.
Pl. 08New Growth
Kos Minar — a pale carved pillar holding clusters of green fabric memory pods in its hollows.
Pl. 09Kos Minar Partially charred oak, dipped fabric · 2023
Holding Hope — charred California redwood form, carved to expose its growth rings.
Pl. 10Holding Hope Charred redwood, acrylic · 2025
It was tiime to leave — a charred black sphere split by a vivid cobalt-blue cleft.
Pl. 11It was tiime to leave
Distancing — three headless black ceramic torsos, each fractured vertically, on a wooden base.
Pl. 12Distancing Ceramic, wood
Destiny — Lines That Walked With Me — a carved wood pillar traced with termite lines and set with blue fabric pods.
Pl. 13Destiny — Lines That Walked With Me Wood, fabric
Monsoon — a carved redwood teardrop resting in a bed of sand, in a bright gallery.
Pl. 14Monsoon Charred redwood, sand · 2025
What’s At Play — an arched wood panel holding a dense relief of pink spray-painted plastic toys, outdoors.
Pl. 15What’s At Play Repurposed plastic toys, wood, spray paint
Relic — a small charred wood form cradling clusters of red pods, against a grey backdrop.
Pl. 16Relic
Dear Child, Safe Space — a rough grey carved shell sheltering a smooth orange form.
Pl. 17Dear Child, Safe Space Partially charred oak · 2023
Taming the Expectations — a charred, nodular carved pillar with a warm orange wood inset.
Pl. 18Taming the Expectations Charred oak, rose prickles · 2024
Wood Blocks — two charred planks whose pale grain traces wander like river channels.
Pl. 19Wood Blocks
Born of Wood — a nodular carved wood vessel photographed against white.
Pl. 20Born of Wood

Nothing matches these filters yet. Clear them to see every work.

The studio

“Rana’s work requires proficiency with power tools, technical gear and equipment, and intense upper body strength. While her final forms evoke beauty and often have delicate features, the underlying danger of these processes is intrinsic to her work.”

From “Behind the Scene” — the artist at work

Read the full biography
The artist on a ladder, carving the top of a large blackened wood form outdoors.
Studio record Carving at scale — the artist at work