Tanya Wilkinson
Bio
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I began as a hand papermaker, then progressed to printmaking, painting, collage, assemblage and mixed media sculpture. The political, biographical and narrative elements typical of the Feminist Art Movement are part of my work.
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An artist is essentially a story teller. Where do the stories come from? The artist takes in experience, sorts it, reconstructs it and gives it a shape. Having elaborated and refined a world inside herself, she then stands on the threshold between that inner world and this outer world, trying to make some part of the internal narrative visible to others. The sources and building blocks of an artist’s inner world are many. Gender politics and personal experiences (which are also political) are vital sources of inspiration for me, as are archetypal stories—fairytales, legends and myths.
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"Such stories... open a door on Other Time, and if we pass through, though only for a moment, we stand outside our own time, outside Time itself, maybe." — J.R.R. Tolkien (On folklore and myth)
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Resume
Artist Residency
Jentel Foundation, Banner, WY, September-October, 2005
Exhibitions
2024
Reclaimed/Repurposed, GearBox Gallery, Oakland CA
Paper + Fiber, 1202 Contemporary Gallery, Gilroy CA
Assemblage, Wailoa Center, Hilo, Hawai’i
Access: An Ordinary Notion, Arc Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Cut and Run, Arc Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Sculpture and Assemblage, Marin Society of Artists, San Raphael, CA
Third Annual Women Artists Show, Live Worms Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Nature vs. Machine, Gallery O-Rama, San Francisco, CA
Home, The Drawing Room, San Francisco, Ca
2023
Tarot, Gallery O-Rama, San Francisco, CA
Human Form and Figure, San Fernando Valley Cultural Center, CA
Politics: Not for Polite Conversation, Gallery-0-Rama, San Francisco, CA
The Art of a Story, Village Theater and Art Galley, Danville, CA
Collage:Deconstruct/Reconstruct, Museum of Northern California Art, Chico, CA
Dark/Radiant/Expressive/Political, Live Worms Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Cut to the Chase, Arc Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Women Artists Show, Live Worms Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Truth: Artists Books and Broadsides, Gallery Route One, Point Reyes Station, CA
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2022
The Collage Show, EvolvedSF, San Francisco, CA
TEXTural, Live Worms Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Summertime, Gallery Sanchez, San Francisco, CA
Women in Art, Las Lagunas Gallery, Laguna, CA
Golden, Las Lagunas Gallery, Laguna, CA
Cutting Edge, Arc Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Mischievous Mythcreants, UMA Gallery, Oakland CA
Women Artists Pop-up, Live Worms Gallery, San Francisco, CA
48 Pillars, Arc Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Dollhouse, Arc Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2021
Creative Revel, Live Worms Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Anniversary Show, Live Worms Gallery, San Francisco, CA
A Midsummer Show, Live Worms Gallery, San Francisco, Ca
Altered Books, Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, Novato, CA
TEXTural, Live Worms Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Cut Me Loose, Arc Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Sparcx, Arc Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Content, The Artery, Davis, CA
2020
A Cut Above, Arc Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Twenty-Twenty: Visions of the Future, Arc Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2019
F213, Arc Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2018
Secrets, Lies, & Disinformation, Arc Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Cut it Out, Arc Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2017
Making the Cut, Arc Gallery, San Francisco, CA
The Art of Resistance, Museum of International Propaganda, San Rafael, CA
2016
Noe Valley Artists, Noe Valley Ministry, San Francisco, CA
Cut and Paste, Arc Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Art Tag: Inspire, Village Theatre Art Gallery, Danville, CA
2015
Running with Scissors, Arc Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2014
Collage-a-rama, Arc Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Landscape of Memories, Village Theatre Art Gallery, Danville, CA
2013
Banned and Recovered, touring exhibit through fifteen museums and libraries across the state of California, sponsored by CERA.
Memento, Arc Gallery, San Francisco, CA
The Third Mind, Big Umbrella Studios, San Francisco, CA
2012
Telling Stories Through Art, Diablo Valley Art Gallery, Diablo Valley Community College, Diablo Valley, CA
Golden Gate, Arc Gallery, San Francisco, CA
40 Watt: Illuminating Herstory, South Bay Women’s Caucus, Palo Alto, CA
2011
Once Upon an Other Time, Arc Gallery San Francisco, CA
San Francisco Summer, Arc Gallery, San Francisco, CA
A Sense of Place, Northern California Women's Caucus for the Arts
Telling Tales and Mixing Metaphors, Village Theatre Art Gallery, Danville, CA
2010
Focus 2010: What are Women Artists Doing? Kevin Milligan Gallery, Danville, CA
SPARC: Meet the Artists of ARC Studios & Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
2009
Ineffable Woman, CERES Gallery, NY, NY
Myth, Magic, and Mystery: The Liminal in Art, Red Door Gallery, Oakland, CA
2008
Solo Exhibition: Tell Tale/Tall Tale, California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco, CA.
Banned and Recovered, San Francisco Center for the Book and African American Museum and Library of Oakland, Oakland CA
Artspan Juried Exhibition, San Francisco Visitors Bureau, San Francisco, CA.
Women on War, Mission Cultural Center, San Francisco, CA.
2007
Cutting Edge Books, California State University East Bay, Hayward, CA.
Art of the Book, San Francisco Center for the Book, San Francisco, CA.
Mischief, Studio Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
Effects of War, California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco CA
2006
Bookworks, San Francisco Public Library, San Francisco, CA.
For Shame, BC Space Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA.
2005
PCBA Calendar Show, San Francisco Center for the Book, San Francisco, CA
2004
Art of the Book, Art Books Press, Seattle, WA.
Personae, Off-Market Theater and Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
A Medium for Living, Varnish Fine Art, San Francisco, CA.
2003
The Symbol, City of Oakland Craft & Cultural Arts Gallery, Oakland CA
Altered Barbie, Chatterbox Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
2002
Dreams, Fox Commons Gallery, Berkeley, CA.
Beneath The Surface, California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco, CA.
2001
Three Visions, Nexus Gallery, Berkeley, CA.
Holiday Show, Urban Colours Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
2000
Temples, Bade Museum, University of California at Berkeley
1999
Oltre Il Simbala, Sala dele Grasce, Pietrasanta, Italy
Feminist Art, Dragonara Gallery, St. Julians, Malta
Gathered Strand, Insight Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
Path of the Feminine, Fine Arts Gallery, Solano Community College, Solano, CA.
Contemplating Mary: Contemporary Visual Meditations on the Blessed Mother, Grace Cathedral Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
Curating
Arc Gallery, San Francisco, CA, Dollhouse
Village Theatre Art Gallery, Danville, CA, Telling Tales and Mixing Metaphors,
California State University East Bay,” Cutting Edge Books”, Hayward, CA, 2007
California Institute of Integral Studies, “Effects of War”, San Francisco, CA, 2007
Art-related Lectures and Talks
“Is Women’s Art Uniquely Female?” CERES Gallery, NY, NY, Feb 26, 2009
“Female Personae” Art and Psyche Conference, San Francisco Jung Institute, May 2008
“Altered Books as Sculptural Objects” a talk given at the California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco, CA, April 6, 2007.
“The Unknown Woman”, Dragonara Gallery, St. Julians, Malta, March 31, 1999.
“Mary and the Creative Response," Grace Cathedral Gallery, Nov. 22, 1998.
Art-related Publication:
“Cauldron of Regeneration: Psychological Transformation in the Drawings of Harriette Sheranna Frances”, in Drawing it Out: Befriending the Unconscious by Sheranna Frances, 2001, MAPS Publishing, Sarasota, Florida.