Tarra Lyons

When I am painting I am often attempting to create an inner moment externally. When successful, these moments invoke feeling, atmosphere and a sense of memory through use of color, design, texture, and symbols that have deep meaning for me. Painting has never been a social commentary, a flashy statement or an overly descriptive exercise in realism for its own sake. Painting is an expression of personal history and internal thought and feeling with a hope of creating symbolic language that is descriptive of interior life.
The painting process quiets the inner chatter in my mind and is my meditation. Sometimes when I am working it feels as though I step on a fluid river of semi consciousness, down and far away from lucid thought. In those fortunate moments the creating is so fluid that what comes out on canvas seems like the result of an unspoken conversation coming from some other energy source. And because of this fluidity, I don't feel as though I am the true author, I am just a conduit.
In my painting studio a day starts with expectation and certainty that a journey will begin. Uncertainty is part of this journey, in fact, sometimes an “unsuccessful” session is a struggle and seems as though the path is leading in the wrong di...

MFA California College of Art 1991
BFA Boston University 1986

Selected Exhibitions
“Flora and Fauna”, Jen Tough Gallery, Benicia, CA
“Small Works”, Jennifer Perlmutter Gallery, Lafayette, CA
“One Person Exhibition”, San Fransisco Museum of Modern Art Cafe, San Francisco, CA
“Bestiaries”, Oakland Art Gallery, curated by Anna Vaughn, Oakland, CA “Two Person Exhibit”, Mercury 20 Gallery, Oakland, CA
“Firecrackers”, Roshambo Winery, Curated by Chandra Cerrito, Napa, CA “Contemporary Perspectives”, Museum of Contemporary Art at Luther
Burbank Center for the Arts, Santa Rosa, CA
“Memories, Dreams, and Reflections, SFMOMA, Artists Gallery, San Francisco, CA
“No Big Heads”, University of Alaska, Anchorage, AK
“Holiday Show”, Two-XL Gallery, San Francisco, CA
“Faculty Exhibition”, Diablo Valley College, Pleasant Hill CA
“Group Show”, Soho-Myriad Gallery, Atlanta, GA
“Fresh”, 525 Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
“It’s A Dog’s Life”, Bedford Gallery, Walnut Creek, CA
“Mostra 99, Works on Paper” Museo Italo Americano, San Francisco, CA “Small Works, The Sequel”, Susan Cummings Gallery, Mill Valley, CA
“Fever Dreams”, Belcher Street Studios, San Francisco, CA
“Bug Collection”, Palo Alto Cultural Center, Palo Alto, CA
“Mood Swings”, Bucheon Gallery, San Francisco, CA,
“Obsession”, Southern Expos...