Tara Lewis "Batgirl with a Daisy Earring"

Tara Lewis "Batgirl with a Daisy Earring" 2025

Painting, Oil on Linen
Dimensions: 16in x 12in 
Unique
Signed on verso by artist, includes gallery label and certificate of authenticity

Tara Lewis’ paintings exude self-awareness, adornment, realness, and self-decoration in tandem with varying narratives inspired by media culture that often tap self-agency and the contemporary complexities of femininity. Exploring cultural anthropology, individuality, and personhood, her work weaves a fresh narrative seasoned with irreverence and slight satirical punch, informed by critical reflections on expectations and stereotypes of gender roles. Tara received her graduate degree from SMFA at Tufts University and her BA in Painting and Printmaking at the University of New Hampshire. She has presented her paintings at ArtCrush, Aspen, CO; Abigail Ogilvy Gallery, Los Angeles; Room 57 Gallery, New York, NY; Bergdorf Goodman, New York, NY; Ki Smith Gallery, New York, NY; Meisel Gallery, New York, NY The Currier Museum of Art, NH; Harsh Collective, New York, NY;  FORMah Gallery, New York, NY; Lyons Wier Gallery, New York, NY; Tchotchke Gallery, Brooklyn, NY; Tufts University Art Galleries, Boston, MA and more.  Her work is held in many significant collections, including The Bunker Artspace, Beth Rudin DeWoody, The Phelan Art Collection, Brooke Shields, The Seavest Collection, and Ashley Longshore.  Tara recently was accepted to a residency at Anderson Ranch in Snowmass Village, CO. She lives and works in both New England and New York City.

“I paint portraits with a narrative spin. For Batgirl with a Daisy Earring, I mined media culture, diving into my childhood memories of TV, cartoons, and movies. I adorned my subject with an iconic and generic superhero mask - for its visual punch and the immediacy of the story it tells. Batgirl with a Daisy Earring is seasoned with realness, irreverence and self-assurance. The model embodies the duality of her own personhood in tandem with the great traits of Batman, who I evolved into Batgirl with a Daisy Earring for this painting - a determined, resilient and tough female protagonist - as is the model I painted.  In my studio practice, my models have agency to self-style with accessories in my studio, and the portrait sessions are all very spontaneous and collaborative - thus the naturalness of the pose. This painting is a nod to the fluidity of identity and moreover, being human. Anyone can present as Batgirl – and experience the layering and transformative nature of realness and the unreal.” - Tara Lewis