Branda C. Maholtz: July 2026
Pittsburgh-based artist, Branda C. Maholtz, works primarily in oil paint and pastels. Her work is known for its loose brushstrokes and thoughtful color palette that evoke an illusory, dream-like abstraction, even when the subject matter is familiar. Branda’s titles demand attention not only for their contextualization of the pieces, but also as they serve as an attempt to form a deep emotive connection with the viewer. In her recent works for the series “Landscapes: Postcard Sent from the Past” (2022-2024), Branda creates a sense of place for her most vulnerable experiences while playing with idea of a double-entendre by titling her pieces twice to further explore the multiplicity of meaning and memory as it evolves and is open to interpretation. Branda has shown work at the San Francisco Art Fair 2026, represented by Cindy Lisica Galleries. The painting, Chutes and Ladders was shown at the Westmoreland Museum of Art for their three exhibition, “Surface Tension.” Her work has been selected for several Associated Artists of Pittsburgh shows, including “Brooklyn X Pittsburgh: The Industry of Art” curated by Eric Shiner, and “Spring Thaw 2025: Alchemists in the Greenhouse.” She was a finalist for TenMoir Gallery’s “Secret Garden” and “Lucid Dream” in 2025, shown at the Central PA Art’s Festival for “Images 2024 and 2005” juried Gallery Exhibition, and received an Honorable Mention for the Pittsburgh Scene Innovation Grant in 2023. She has also shown work in Hudson, NY. Her solo show, “get (it) together: selected works” in 2025 garnered much attention in the Pittsburgh area.
“Only Connect…”
—Epigraph from Howards End by EM Forster
I am interested in what’s unsaid but understood, the inherent interconnectedness of shared life experiences even between complete strangers, and what influences us to gain awareness and feel real and present when we envision ourselves through intro- or retrospection. My work is a celebration of contextual references, landscapes—both real and unreal, physical and emotional, that make up our lives.
As an artist and writer, I am interested in language and its various expressions—word choice, form, line, texture, color—and how communication is successful or potentially misinterpreted based on either my or the audience’s experience, each valid. I imagine the space between myself, the creator, and the canvas: that space is a poem written by myself and by the viewer. Many of my works have companion poems as an additional way to connect with my audience in lyrical abstraction.
My work takes many forms—from landscapes based on memory images and abstracted flashes of color and vibrations that surge off the paper to figurative representations of found items and rocks. I am obsessed with the everyday object as a symbol or vessel for holding meaning and truth, giving the intangible energy and weight that you can hold in your hands or hold your gaze. Sometimes subtle, sometimes harsh or brash—the line or brush stroke is a connection from me to the viewer. Our collective or individual emotional states are unreal, an illusion. I attempt to elicit feeling and construct a sense of space where memories continue to live and evolve.
My own emotional vulnerability is offered for the taking—the last walk with a beloved pet, the grief of betrayal, love lost or gained, or the meaning found in what seemed so ordinary at first. In my work, I’m giving our feelings, and our experiences a collective sense of context or place for what only exists internally to become external and shared. I’m always trying to answer the question, “Where exactly does our emotion or experience live once it has happened?”
Upcoming/Current Exhibitions:
The Mortal Hand
July 11th-August 22nd, 2026
You Are Here Gallery
A triptych on the set of a forthcoming thriller series "Parallax" on Apple TV
Two paintings on display at Public House in Braddock, PA.
Part of curating and facilitating the monthly Art Crawl in Braddock at the Ohringer Arts Gallery on the second Friday of each month. The last crawl for June was called "Collaboratory" and was composed of individual artists and collaborations between each of the artists, Branda included.
