Gordon Riley studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, graduated from the Maine College of Art, and has exhibited throughout New England for the last 30 years, including the Newport and Attleboro Art Museums, Candita Clayton, Art Prov, Providence Art Club, Art League of RI, and Pawtucket Arts Collaborative in southern New England; AVA Gallery in Lebanon, NH; and June Fitzpatrick, Caldbeck, Mars Hall, Granite Gallery and Maine Arts Commission in Maine.
She has had a studio for 20 years in Pawtucket, RI, where she is a member of the Mayor’s Commission on Arts and Culture, the % for Public Art Committee, and the Pawtucket Arts Collaborative. She is grateful for Pawtucket’s spirit, its commitment to artists, and to reawakening the city through the arts.
The Way Through, 2024
Oil on Canvas 30″ x 36″
Artist Statement
Mimo Gordon Riley does not plan her paintings. Confronting the broad and general subject of the natural world, she draws with a brush instead of a pencil, covering the canvas with layers of color. She then splits up the space with lines or shapes, pushing some colors into the background, pulling others forward, creating something that she connects with viscerally. Once the connection is made, the rest falls into place. She’s been painting nature’s patterns with her own colors for many years, trying to personalize the world around her.
Part of Growing the NetWorks
This artist was selected by a past NetWorks Rhode Island participant as part of Growing the NetWorks — a 2025 exhibition presented by WaterFire Providence, at the WaterFire Arts Center, celebrating peer-nominated artists from across Rhode Island. Learn more at waterfire.org/growingthenetworks
Highlighting the work of selected artists who have played vital roles in shaping the contemporary visual arts community in Rhode Island. This collection of brief video portraits provides a window into the lives, practices, and cultural contributions of professional artists.
