The Curated House: The Curated Collection

There is always for me a quality of escape that I look for in fine art - a transcendence that carries me to a new place or experience I've never had, or returns me to a feeling or a memory I once knew. The truth is, it is rather rare to discover this kind of transcendence in still life, for me at least. And yet that is exactly what I find myself experiencing in the stunning work of Karyn Lyons.

Blurring the lines between photo-realism and interpretation, Lyons sweeps me away into a dream-like state with her paintings. I feel as though I have awoken at midnight and wandered out into a grove, or perhaps sat down at a table with my love to savour the succulent flavours of nature and fine wine - simple things and decadent things effortlessly married like fantasy-meets-real-life.

With obvious respect for the 400 year history of still life portraiture, Lyons reinterprets traditional motifs with a decidedly modern aesthetic, expressing them in quietly luminous, often monochromatic palettes that add a cinematic, mysterious quality and depth to her work.

Artist and essayist George Ferrandi says, "...in art, apples are almost always in some residual conversation with temptation - but Lyons makes broader use of them. Somehow, in their associations with fall and the end of summer, and in the presence of these ever-woolen skies, the apple tree carts with it a feeling of ‘after.’ Like the moon is on the wane. Like the honeymoon is over.”

Karyn's background is also quite fascinating. Lyons is an art director in the fashion industry. She worked at Polo Ralph Lauren and J. Crew before returning to school in 2001 for graduate studies at The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. After graduating in 2003, she spent a year working as a painter for Jeff Koons, where she worked on the Popeye series. Her first solo show was at the Sarah Bowen Gallery in Brooklyn, New York, in 2005. Since then, she has been in numerous group shows in the United States and abroad. She lives and works in New York City and Lima, Peru.

Lyons' latest work is currently on exhibition at MARCH in San Francisco through until November 23, 2013. The show includes 20 oil on canvas and oil on vellum paintings, sizes ranging between 3.5x3.5” to 44x60". If you are in the area, I highly recommend making a point of stopping by for a visit.

The Curated Collection | Karyn Lyons