Sonia: Arrangement in Green Shell and Sepia Extra, detail, oil on canvas, 40 in. x 32 in., 2022
Lyons’ painting practice is driven by an ongoing investigation into the cognitive and non-linguistic processes used in interpreting imagery. Primarily using paint as a medium, she recontextualizes appropriated imagery to provoke new meanings and visual interpretations. Confronting the primary elements of paint, such as line and form, representation and abstraction, and color, Lyons addresses painting’s continued importance today.
In Lyons' current ongoing series, Some Women, she explores, by distorting the female body, the cycle of women’s objectification throughout art history and culture while at the same time, attempts to break this cycle by imbuing the figures with subjectivity. This distortion manifests by using found images of multiple women's bodies to create one figure in each painting. She appropriates from image searches, culling material from social media to fashion photography, because she believes these representations of women have a universal influence on women worldwide, from all cultures and of all ages.
Lyons' practice is influenced by her education and its subsequent opportunities. At UC Berkeley she studied with art historians T.J. Clark and Hal Foster. While at UCLA, working with artists such as John Baldessari and Elizabeth Peyton she cemented her works’ conceptual approach to figurative painting. In addition, Lyons absorbs a range of influences from Francisco Goya and Marlene Dumas to Romanesque and Surrealism.
Christiane Lyons lives and works in San Francisco, California. She received her BA from the University of California, Berkeley and her MFA from University of California, Los Angeles. She has been represented by Meliksetian|Briggs since 2012.
Maria: Arrangement in King’s Blue and Modigliani Ochre, detail, oil on canvas, 48 in. x 36 in., 2020