Artist’s Statement
I am inspired by chaos, joy, the mundane, and the heartache of life.
Grief gave new life to my journey as an artist. After my father died, I used paint to give voice to what I could not yet vocalize. I inherited his drafting table, drawers, and my grandmother’s easel. I sat grieving in my basement with a newly inherited studio, and it took me back to sitting side by side with my dad sharing the same large piece of pastel paper. He taught me to draw pastel portraits as we each created on our own sides of the line down the middle. When I held those same dusty boxes of my grandmother’s pastels from the 1960s, I dusted off my long lost passion.
My current figurative work is inspired by the chaos of childhood. I want to capture that fleeting moment of calm before my sons rush to the next activity, seeing the world fly by from their perspective.
I have a unique perspective that I share through my art. In my night job as a pediatric emergency nurse, I am surrounded by trauma. I often use abstract watercolor to process after a traumatic night. My love-hate relationship with perfection shows through much of my work. The freedom I enjoy in abstract art has influenced my figurative painting.
I am drawn to the depth of art. In my attempt to compartmentalize chaos, I have found boundless beauty. Like each of us, there is more to a painting than what can be seen at first glance.
Artist’s Biography
Lydia Wood (American, b. 1986) is an emerging figurative and abstract artist from St. Louis, Missouri. She has exhibited at the St. Louis Artists’ Guild, Intersect Arts Center, Erica Popp Studios and Gallery, Soulard Art Gallery and Union Avenue Christian Church. Lydia has been a featured artist at St. Louis Children’s Hospital, and enjoys sharing her passion for art through workshops with children in the hospital. She volunteers with CommUNITY Arts STL which utilizes art to target gun violence and secondary trauma in St. Louis. Lydia is a firm believer in creatively investing in her community through art and advocacy.
Lydia has taken select coursework in fine art from Meramec Community College, Southwest Baptist University, the St. Louis Artists’ Guild, and Gateway Academy of Classical Art.
Lydia lives in St. Louis with her husband and two young sons. She also works as a pediatric emergency nurse at a level 1 trauma center which greatly influences her artwork.
Artist’s Curriculum Vitae
Lydia Wood
Figurative Artist - St. Louis, MO
Exhibited Art
2022 I Declare - Art Saint Louis - Saint Louis, Missouri
2022 Salon Des Refuses - Wausau Museum of Contemporary Art - Wausau, Wisconsin
2022 About Face - Webster Arts - Webster Groves, Missouri (juror: Ali Cavanaugh)
2022 Mujer - 33 Contemporary/PoetsArtists, Chicago, Illinois (virtual show)
2021 International Women's Day, Postcard Popup - 33 Contemporary/PoetsArtists - Chicago, Illinois (virtual show)
2020 Ambivalence, 33 Contemporary/PoetsArtists - Chicago, Illinois (virtual show)
2019 Art is Inspirational, Jacoby Arts Center - Alton, Illinois
2019 Art St. Louis XXV, The Exhibition - Art St. Louis - St. Louis, Missouri
2019 Anew exhibition - Intersect Arts Center - St. Louis, Missouri
2019 Faces exhibition - Soulard Art Gallery - St. Louis, Missouri
2019 Featured Member - March 2019 - St. Louis Artists’ Guild - St. Louis, Missouri
2019 In Courageous Form Mannequin Project - Curated by Central Studios at
Union Avenue Church - St. Louis, Missouri
2018 Art is For Everyone - Group Show at Erica Popp Studios and Gallery - St. Louis, Missouri
2005 Young Artists’ Showcase - St. Louis Artists’ Guild - St. Louis, Missouri
2004 Young Artists’ Showcase - St. Louis Artists’ Guild - St. Louis, Missouri
Professional Experience and Speaking Engagements
2022 Inspired by The Saints Series of Paintings Commissioned by Catholic Health Association of the United States
2021 Cultivating an Awareness of the Effects of Trauma Through Portraiture. Virtual Talk - Christ Community Lutheran Church, February 14th, 2021
2020-present Artwork for sale through 33 Contemporary’s Artsy
2020 On Narrative, Trauma, and Hope discussing the series A Shot at Survival: Watercolor Portraits Illustrating What it Takes to Survive Trauma In St. Louis. Virtual Talk - Christ Lutheran Church, December 5th 2020
2020 Large Painting Commissions, Emergency Department, Geisinger Medical Center, Danville, PA and Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center, Wilkes-Barre, PA
2019 Artist’s Support Grant Recipient - Regional Arts Commission - St. Louis, Missouri
2019 Volunteer, CommUNITY Arts STL - St. Louis, Missouri
2019 Featured Artist - Teen Printmaking - St. Louis Children’s Hospital - St. Louis, Missouri
2019 Featured Artist - Art in the Garden - St. Louis Children’s Hospital - St. Louis, Missouri
2018 - Present Artwork for Sale through TurningArt
2004 Private Art Instructor - St. Louis, Missouri
Memberships
PoetsArtists and Heartland Art Club
Publications
2022 Inspired by The Saints Series of Paintings Commissioned by Catholic Health Association of the United States
2021 PoetsArtists International Women’s Day 2021, Publisher/Curator Didi Menendez
Gallery 33 Contemmporary, Chicago
2020 August 15th, Beautiful Bizarre Magazine, PoetsArtists + 33 Contemporary “Ambivalence”
Curated by Carol Hodes, by Bella Harris https://beautifulbizarre.net/2020/08/19/poetsartists-33-contemporary-ambivalence/
2020 August 7th - Underrated Artists Podcast, Episode 4: An ER Nurse Putting Her Paintbrush Where Her Mouth Is from St. Louis, MO https://open.spotify.com/episode/2fGz4xK8nSqLu65U7SNGP1
2019 November, 14th Ladue News, Art Saint Louis' Wow-Worthy Winter Exhibition, By Bryan A. Hollerbach https://www.laduenews.com/arts-and-culture/features/art-saint-louis-wow-worthy-winter-exhibition/article_88d0ff88-d68c-5ba3-9485-ca430dc32aab.html
Education
Mentored by Ali Cavanaugh and BJ Parker
2019-2021 Selected Coursework - Gateway Academy of Classical Art - St. Louis, MO
2007 Selected Coursework in Fine Arts - Southwest Baptist University - Bolivar, MO
2004 Selected Coursework in Fine Arts - Meramec St. Louis Community College - St. Louis, MO
2004 Selected Coursework - St. Louis Artists’ Guild - St. Louis, MO