By Noma Faingold

Mill Valley painter Christiane Lyons has dedicated the last decade of her life to her series, which she, somewhat facetiously, calls, “Some Women.” The oil paintings are collage-like, yet more refined. There is also a double or triple-exposure effect in the depiction of the women. The work is figurative, abstract and surreal. It is easy to be drawn to the colorful, layered pieces. There is a soft beauty to them. But a closer, more pensive examination reveals an indictment on the objectification of women in history and in current times.

Lyons’ creative process starts with collecting photographic images of women online. Her searches use key words, like “Olympia” and she sees what pops up. She gathers photos of women, which reflect female objectification.

“I want to free them of dehumanization and bring them back to life in my work. It’s an attempt to break this cycle,” she said. “That is really important, because then I feel I’m working from images that we as a society have chosen to represent women.”

Lyon, 48, manipulates the selected images digitally into collages or what she refers to as maquettes (small-scale, rough drafts, which give her room to experiment with concepts and proportions). Then she paints on canvas.

In 2022, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF) acquired one of Lyon’s paintings (as part of a collection of 42 artworks by 30 emerging and midcareer Bay Area contemporary artists) from a $1 million gift from the Svane Family Foundation. The third iteration of the showcase is titled, “Superficial Matters,” which opens on Aug. 15 at the de Young Museum. The exhibition features eight artists, who thematically confront the split between substance and appearance, examining how it has shaped and repressed representations of womanhood.

Lyons’ 2021 piece is titled, “Leonora: Arrangement in Radiant Magenta and Cadmium Red Light.” All the works from her “Some Women” series are named after an artist Lyons admires, in this case British/Mexican surrealist Leonora Carrington (1917-2011). Each “Some Women” title also highlights the more prominent colors used in each piece.

“For an artist, who has grown up here, to be collected by the Fine Arts Museums is a huge deal. Any artist who is collected by the museum where they live, it makes a big difference,” Lyons said. Her early connection with the de Young was when, at 13, she took art classes at the museum.

She grew up in Mill Valley and returned to the quaint Marin town after earning an Master of Fine Arts in painting/drawing at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), followed by living in Los Angeles for 11 years. Lyons completed her undergraduate degree in Art Practice from the University of California, Berkeley, Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa.

For the last 15 years, she has worked out of her studio in Sausalito at a converted artist collective, which was once the Liberty shipbuilding hub during World War II.

In the composition of “Leonora,” two women are pictured in a superimposed way. One is wearing a kimono and the other is in a magenta dress. The background is soothing with its rich floral bouquets and pale blue sky, as seen through windows. The setting has a watercolor tint.

“Those two women are vertically stacked and they are intertwined. Those figures work together,” Lyons said.

Lyons has been represented by Los Angeles gallery Meliksetian/Briggs (Anna Meliksetian and Michael Briggs) since 2012. Her interest in art history carries over into her work. She is particularly inspired by the period from late 19th to the early 20th century, with regard to European artists, such as Ėdouard Manet and Henri Matisse.

Other influences include professor at UCLA and mentor, the late John Baldessari (1931-2020), along with living artists Elizabeth Peyton, who she worked with and Marlene Dumas.

Lyons paid homage to Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama with the painting, “Yayoi: Arrangement on Opaline Grey and Titanium White 2,” which was bought in 2022 by the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Texas, in conjunction with the group exhibition, “Women Painting Women.” The work is centered on three women displayed in layers, with the front body covered in a black-and-white avant garde striped dress. And yes, there are noticeable Circus-like dots (a Kusama signature) in the background in various saturated colors.

“There’s a lot going on in my work,” Lyons said.

“Superficial Matters: Artists from the Svane Gift and Beyond,” runs from Aug. 15 of this year until May 8, 2028, at the de Young Museum (50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Dr.). The exhibit is made possible by a 2021 $1 million endowment from the Svane Family Foundation. The exhibition, featuring the work of eight Bay Area artists, is the third iteration of the local showcase. For more information visit famsf.org/visit/de-young.

Find more information about Christiane Lyons at christianelyons.com and @christianelyons on Instagram.