Into the Hazel Woods with Deirdre Sullivan-Beeman and Shana Nys Dambrot

Deirdre Sullivan-Beeman is a surrealist painter born out of the 3rd Wave of Feminism. She came into her own in Los Angeles in the 1990s alongside cultural movements like riot grrrl, Queercore, and DIY. As a self-taught artist, Sullivan-Beeman utilizes many DIY ethics and methods. Her paintings are a palimpsest that employs the imposed history and lore of the "girl" in empowering femininity. Her young women find their strength in a multitude of potentialities and sexualities. The iconography and simulacra in her transcendental works emerge from someplace subliminal. These elements reflect her view of the world and have metaphorical meaning through investigation of identity, gender, otherworldly narratives, and mythical animal personas. She often uses her dream journal as inspiration, exploring the collective unconscious with an overt curiosity for the bizarre and esoteric such as alchemy and the tarot. She paints using a modified oil and egg tempera Renaissance technique.
Sullivan-Beeman lives and works in Vancouver, Canada and has a studio in Los Angeles, CA. While she has a BFA in Cinema from the University of Southern California, she is a self-taught artist. Her work has been exhibited in notable galleries and museums such as KP Projects (Merry Karnowsky Gallery) in Los Angeles, CA; Haven Gallery in Northport, NY; Modern Eden Gallery in San Francisco, CA; The Belskie Museum of Art & Science in Closter, NJ; Second Street Gallery in Charlottesville, VA; Merlino Galleria d'Arte Contemporanea in Florence, Italy; Galerie Bruno Massa in Paris, France. Sullivan-Beeman has participated in art fairs such as Seattle Art Fiar, Scope Immersive 2020, Aqua Art Miami, and Pulse Art Fair in Miami, FL; LA Art Show in Los Angeles, CA; Art! Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada. Sullivan-Beeman has had three solo exhibitions at La Luz de Jesus Gallery in Los Angeles, CA. She has been named a Finalist in the Imaginative Realism category by the Art Renewal Center three times.

Shana Nys Dambrot is an art critic, curator, and author based in Downtown LA. A contributor to the Village Voice, Flaunt, Artillery, and other culture publications, she was the Arts Editor for the L.A. Weekly from 2018-24. She studied Art History at Vassar College, curates and juries exhibitions, writes prolifically for exhibition catalogs and monographic publications, and speaks at galleries, schools, and cultural institutions nationally. She is the recipient of the 2022 & 2024 Mozaik Future Art Writers Prize, the 2022 Rabkin Prize for Art Criticism, and the LA Press Club National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Critic of the Year award for 2022.

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