Lyn Southworth Bio
What's Happening Now: This website is the result of two years of time off from painting, doing the Women News Links blog, and making cranky lists for myself of stuff I never wanted to bother with again - like paying photographers, storing artwork, never having the right colors or brushes for a new project. You get the idea.
On the positive side, I got really excited about switching it all to digital, learning to use the hardware and software, and being a beginner once again.
What this means for you is there are new things for you to look at, and a new opportunity to share in the creative process by deciding for yourself how an image, cartoon, etc. would work for you. Maybe you like to wear stuff you love, maybe you are more of a mug or iphone case person. Maybe hanging art on your wall is what you are about. It all works in the fully digital world. That's why I'm here. Thanks for joining the view and the adventure.
About me: My twenty-five year career in art was sparked by the study of Japanese language and calligraphy at UCLA, when I turned a major in Japanese language into something completely my own. I continue to refer to the simplicity and emotional intensity of the Japanese aesthetic to center my work and my life.
My art is currently fired by my interest in what it means to be a woman and my passion for the well-being of women worldwide. I devoted 5 years to painting contemporary women exclusively, and toward the end of that run of creativity, began serving as a domestic violence advocate at a local nonprofit agency. There I ran headlong into the train wreck that is women and children's needs and American society's attitudes towards those needs.
Both the Women News Links blog and my current work revolve around giving voice and visual reality both to my own response to this train wreck, and to finding some small way to make a difference. Making my art interactive, rather than something you like and buy off a gallery wall (not that there's anything wrong with that), reflects my intensity to involve women in their own survival and provide ways, even through the humble t-shirt or coffee mug, for women to build their voices and speak to changing their lives.
Born in Virginia, I currently reside in Southern California.
Selected Group Exhibitions:
blog comments powered by Disqus2008 "International Women's Day Show", Curated by Cultural Affairs Committee, Kerckhoff Art Gallery, UCLA, Los Angeles, California.
2008 "I-5 Gallery Invitational Group Show", Juror Mat Gleason, Los Angeles, California.
2007 "Visual Voices", Kellogg Gallery, Cal Poly Pomona, California.
2007 "Best of Wilson Adams", Denver, Colorado
2006-07 Wilson Adams Gallery, Denver, Colorado
2006 "Primarily Red," Southern California Women's Caucus for Art Juried Exhibition, Juror Meg Linton, I-5 Gallery, Los Angeles, California.
2005 Southern California Regional Juried Award Exhibition, Juror Osvaldo Sanchez, San Diego Art Institute, San Diego, California
2005 Textile Arts Show, Pelican Art Gallery, Petaluma, California
2004 “It’s A Fine Line,” Spanish Village Art Center, San Diego, California
2004 “Kitchen Sink Arts,’ Lombardo Studios Gallery, Culver City, California
1997 “Best of Wildfiber Artists,” Co-Curator, Second Street Gallerie, Santa Monica, California
1996 “Fall Show - About Women,” Co-Curator, Gordon Gallery, Santa Monica, California
1996 “Summer Show,” Gordon Gallery, Santa Monica, California
1996 “Spring Show,” Gordon Gallery, Santa Monica, California
1995 “Winter Show,” Gordon Gallery, Santa Monica, California
1994 “Female Mythic Images,” Wellspring Gallery, Santa Monica, California
Other Arts-Related Experience:
1997 Co-Curator, “Best of Wildfiber Artists,” Second Street Gallerie, Santa Monica, California
1996 Co-Curator, “Fall Show – About Women,” Gordon Gallery, Santa Monica, California
Public Appearances:
2007 Performance Art, "The Hanged Girl", Santa Monica, California
1995 Lecture/Slides/Exhibit, “Distinguished Artists Series,” Wildfiber Studio, Santa Monica, California
Private Commissions:
Jan Reed Tillipman Portrait, Santa Monica, California
Culver Family Portrait, Santa Monica, California
Professional Organizations:
Southern California Womens' Caucus for Art, Member
National Museum of Women in the Arts, Member
Education:
University of California, Los Angeles, 1980-82
University of California, Berkeley, 1979
University of California, Los Angeles, 1962-64
