In Conversation with Mira Dancy
Photo Credit: Roman Koval
Mira Dancy is an American painter. Dancy is known for her paintings on plexiglass of nudes, often executed in bright fluorescent colors. She received her MFA in painting from Columbia University. She has had recent solo exhibitions at Dio Horia Gallery, Athens, GR; Chapter NY, New York; Night Gallery, Los Angeles; Galería Agustina Ferreyra, Mexico City; JOAN, Los Angeles; Lumber Room, Portland, OR; Yuz Foundation, Shanghai; and Galerie Hussenot, Paris.
I had the pleasure of asking Mira about her new exhibition, what she wants to say artistically in it, when art entered her life, and so much more.
UZOMAH: How has creating art changed your perspective on the world? In what ways do you incorporate the influence of art on your outlook and approach to different matters?
MIRA: Making art makes the world feel malleable. I think it requires a certain optimism, and believing that change is possible feels like a necessary survival skill these days. The very act of starting a painting is a reminder that no problem can be solved through thought alone– not being afraid of making a mess or making mistakes is a lesson to be continually relearned.
U: Is creating art for you a subconscious process, or do you approach it with specific intent and a defined thought process?
M: It’s not an either/or scenario – beginning a painting requires a kind of intention and preparedness that makes space for the subconscious to come through. The dance must interrupt intention at some point along the way. I’m still a believer in a kind of spirit that transmutes into an artwork, and there is no way to know when or how this will happen, but it is a certain feeling that I chase and embrace when I feel it.
U: What do you want your art to say in the Mourning's Orbit exhibition?
M: The paintings in this show were made in direct response to witnessing the complete devastation that the Eaton Fire leveled on my community of Altadena. Making these paintings was part of my own coming to terms with experiencing this traumatic life-altering event, yet finding moments of hope, inspiration, and beauty that persist, even in a decimated landscape. These paintings tread in the dissonance that buoys the human spirit through grief.
Mira Dancy Anniversary Elderberry, 2026 oil and acrylic on canvas 39 x 32 in (99.1 x 81.3 cm)
U: Is making a work of art something that ends or is finished, or is it something that goes on past the last stroke?
M: Part of the fun of making a painting is falling under its spell. Not being in total control. Making paintings engages all kinds of fantasies, but one storyline that I often allow myself to indulge is that painting is a kind of time-traveling act… a quantum entanglement that the hand and the eye unlock.
Mira Dancy Oak Barricade, 2026 oil and acrylic on canvas 28 x 36 in (71.1 x 91.4 cm)
U: In what ways can art communicate themes and subjects as effectively as literary arts, but through a visual format?
M: Shapes, colors, and words are all powerful forms, and I believe they all enter our brains through a multitude of sensory inputs… I don’t know if I can argue their comparative efficacy. As an artist, I have learned that themes and subjects are themselves somewhat fugitive concepts. I don’t think the goal with making art is that the message or intention comes out the other end intact. Part of the process, part of the beauty is in the mutations and misunderstandings that push through.
Mira Dancy From the Meadows to Millard, 2025 oil and acrylic on canvas 28 x 36 in (71.1 x 91.4 cm)
U: How did art enter your life? When did you know you wanted to be an artist?
M: I entered this life through an artist! The house I grew up in was full of my mother’s prints, paintings, and sculptures, and I spent much of my childhood contemplating her work. I kept notebooks full of floor plans for impossible buildings and thought maybe I would become an architect. As a teenager, my friends and I would rummage through the dump, make trash sculptures, take photographs, and write poetry. I don’t remember if not being an artist was ever really on the table for me– I considered writing and architecture, but no path outside of artmaking was ever something I seriously considered.
U: Is there anything you want to work on or create after this exhibition, or will you be taking a break?
M: This project of painting these direct transmissions from my daily life in Altadena is very much continuing. I am back on the trails, winding my way deeper into the mountains as the trails open up again, and compiling new images to paint from. I’m back in the studio continuing some of these studies of clouds, meditating on how painting clouds feels like handwriting, and I’m feeling inspired by all the wildflowers blooming in my garden. I feel like this work has allowed me to tap into a very intrinsic sense of source, and I’m going to hold onto it for as long as I can!
Mira Dancy October 21st Sky, 2025 oil and acrylic on canvas 28 x 36 in (71.1 x 91.4 cm)
U: You are known for using Plexiglas and bright fluorescent colors. How do you balance these elements to best highlight the theme of your artwork?
M: Hmm.. yes, I am known for my use of bright pinks and violets – they are part of my instinctual palette. Even in this work, which leans more heavily toward realism than other work I have shown in the past, I think the pinks and violets do the work of conveying the psychological dimension to this experience. I think of pink and violet as a wavelength that I travel and connect on. Several of these paintings begin with a silver or pinky silver ground– it’s a means of opening a psychic channel for me. As far as my use of plexiglass, I think my Wikipedia entry incorrectly states that I paint on plexiglass or something… it feels like a rumor I can’t shake. I have used plexiglass and other materials such as vinyl, silks, and mirrors to create installation elements in some exhibitions, but my use of these materials is always to heighten a bodily sensation, a sense of presence, or a doubling up of the self and its reflection.
For more information about Mira’s artwork and current and future exhibitions, please visit her site here. The magazine also featured her latest exhibition at Night Gallery, which can be found here.
