group shows & exhibitions.
Upcoming: Group Show - Artists of Mt. Tam, Muir Woods Park Community Center, Mill Valley, CA, November 2024
Upcoming: Autumn Showcase, Group Show with Marin Open Studios, Marin Art & Garden Center, Ross, CA, Oct. 11-Nov. 10th, 2024
Mill Valley Music Festival in Partnership with Marin Open Studios, Curated by Louis Briones, Director of the Sausalito Art Festival Foundation, Mill Valley, CA May 2024
Marin Open Studios, Group Show with Creatives by the Bay, San Rafael, CA, May 4th - 5th, 2024
Sausalito Center for the Arts, Group Show with Marin Open Studios, Sausalito, CA, April - May, 2024
Marin Open Studios, Pop-Up Show, Bon Air Center, Greenbrae, CA, February - May 2024
Group Exhibition, Emmanuel Art Gallery, Denver, CO 2002
solo shows & exhibitions.
Featured Artist, Charles W. Thomas Salon, San Francisco, CA July 2024 - December 2024
Liminal Illuminations, Solo Show, Muir Woods Park Community Center, Mill Valley, CA, June - July 2024
Hues of Duality, Solo Show, Harvest Wealth Management, San Anselmo, CA, May - October 2024
Sip and Stroll, Downtown San Anselmo, Solo Show at Harvest Wealth Management, May 11th, 2024
Commissioned original art (2 pieces) placed at Arize AI Corporate Office, Downtown Berkeley, CA, 2024
Commissioned original art placed at Swift Ventures, Layfayette, CA 2023
Original art placed at Marriott Courtyard Downtown Denver, Denver, CO 2001
Live Painter, created works on stage with the band Heavyweight Dub Champion, Boulder Theater, Boulder CO 1999
Live Painter, created paintings live, on-stage, with the band Heavyweight Dub Champion, National Tour, various cities in US, 2001
artist statement.
Ryan Lynch, born in 1977 in Atlanta, GA, and currently based in Mill Valley, CA, is a contemporary painter known for her large-scale, cinematic abstract works. Combining her passion for storytelling and painting, Ryan aims to create emotional, expressive art that delves into the unseen worlds of human experience: the emotional landscape, the subconscious, and everyday magic.
Her paintings are characterized by striking layers of contrasting colors, shapes, and textures. They tell a story through the dynamic interplay of what lies beneath and what is visible on the surface. These layered contradictions invite viewers to connect deeply with their own emotions and shared experiences, reflecting the complexities and dualities of the human condition.
Taking inspiration from nature, film, the vast cosmos, her emotional states, and communal moments of catharsis—particularly live music—Ryan employs layers of paint only to scrape and sand them away, revealing hidden narratives and submerged memories. This process evokes the work of an adept archaeologist or a discerning film editor as she unveils the latent emotions that lie beneath the juxtaposition of color and texture, encouraging viewers to explore the depths of their own psyches. Her technique, which incorporates acrylic paint, dry pigments made from local plants and herbs (such as redwood, eucalyptus, and red clay), charcoal, graffiti markers, pastels, and pencils, creates a rich sense of place and narrative. Lynch’s work not only inspires introspection and empathy but also fosters a deeper appreciation for the interconnectedness of nature and humanity.
biography.
Ryan Lynch is a former Development and Story Manager of Pixar Animation Studios, where she contributed to Academy Award-winning films such as Brave, Ratatouille, Wall-E, and Toy Story. She's written screenplays and produced numerous films, shorts, and an award-winning web series called SanFranLand, which can be seen on Amazon. She's also been an art director for live-action films, live events, and public art. She was the art director on Airpusher's Steampunk Airship, which has attended Burning Man for the last ten years (and a Warriors parade!). However, after all those years in the film industry, she's excited to return to painting full-time and has just finished building a beautiful new studio space to expand her practice.
Ryan Lynch received an MFA in Film Directing from the Academy of Art University and a BFA in Fine Art from the University of Colorado at Denver, where she studied painting and graphic design. She also holds a BA in Environmental Biology from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Raised among the Blue Ridge Mountains, her upbringing nurtured a passion for art, storytelling, environmentalism, and exploration, which she channels into her work. Based in Mill Valley, CA, Lynch finds daily inspiration from her two young daughters, aged 4 and 6, who bring joy and spontaneity daily.
Lynch is a member of the art collectives Creatives By the Bay and Artists of Mt. Tam. She studied under Nicholas Wilton, Terri Frolich, and others in the Creative Visionary Program. Her paintings are held in collections internationally.
education.
Academy of Art University - San Francisco, CA MFA Film Directing/Animation
University of Colorado - Denver
BFA Visual Arts
University of Colorado - Boulder
BA Environmental Biology
what brings me JOY:
power of story and the imagination
immersive experiences
creative producing
abstract painting
collaboration
living spaces
color theory
live music
curiosity
botany
costuming
the beauty within
my smart and sassy daughters
building stuff with electric tools (and sometimes pillows!)
seeing colorful paint under my fingernails
world travel
disco, my fur-ball pomsky & coco, my ragdoll cat
sacred geometry
photography
neon
past art, film & virtual reality projects have been seen here:
Academy Awards
The Golden Globes
Annie Awards
Cannes Film Festival
Cannes XR Arcade
Amazon
San Francisco Int’l Film Festival
Mill Valley Film Festival
UN Global Women Voices
Google i/o
San Francisco Chronicle
SF Bay Guardian
Raindance Film Festival
UN Women Global Voices VR Festival
Oculus Connect 4 Conference
Samsung Developer Conference
FIVARS
360 Film Festival
Seattle International Film Festival
Miami Web Festival
Cleveland International Film Festival
Nantucket International Film Festival
SAT IX Immersive Symposium
Wonder Women Tech Conference
Burning Man
KQED