Deirdre Sullivan-Beeman’s Heroine’s Journey: Painting Identity, Magic, and Metaphor

Deirdre Sullivan-Beeman is an artist known for her work in contemporary figurative painting. She often creates dreamlike and surreal scenes, frequently featuring women and animals as central subjects. Her paintings are characterized by intricate details, rich symbolism, and a strong sense of narrative. Sullivan-Beeman's art explores themes related to femininity, identity, mythology, and the subconscious. She has exhibited her work in various galleries and art shows and has gained recognition for her unique style and storytelling through art.

Artist Bio

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 employ 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 the 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.

A dual citizen of Canada and the United States, Sullivan-Beeman lives and works in Vancouver, Canada and maintains 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 FORMah Gallery in New York City; 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; and Galerie Bruno Massa in Paris, France.

Sullivan-Beeman has participated in art fairs such as Seattle Art Fair, Scope Immersive 2020, Aqua Art Miami, Pulse Art Fair in Miami, FL; LA Art Show in Los Angeles, CA; and Art! Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada. She has had three solo exhibitions at La Luz de Jesus Gallery in Los Angeles, CA, and has been named a finalist in the Imaginative Realism category by the Art Renewal Center three times.


Website: www.sullivanbeeman.com
Instagram: @dsullivanbeeman

“Blown About the Sky”

Interview

How has the 3rd Wave of Feminism and movements like Riot Grrrl influenced your surrealist paintings?

I always explore themes related to femininity, identity, mythology, and the subconscious. In the '90s, I grew up in Los Angeles with the rise of third-wave feminism. Anita Hill's story with Clarence Thomas and the sexual harassment was coming to light. As well as the Riot Grrrl scene—my fav bands were Batmobile's "Gimme Brains," Bikini Kill with their song "Rebel Girl," and my friend Jessicka Addams's band Jack Off Jill.

Originally, I grew up in the Midwest, Cincinnati, Ohio, and the whole LA scene was mind-boggling. I loved it! I was a pretty angry kid when I came to LA, and LA became my home and a safe space to grow. These strong female bands showed me the importance of women's voices and stories. The impetus for many of my paintings came out of this alternative world.

A multifaceted painting I did for the solo exhibition at Bert Green in Chicago, "Blown About the Sky," I started to paint during COVID-19. I felt I was “falling;” everything was so out of control. Yet, the original concept of this piece is the horrible fate of NYC performance artist and victim Ana Mendieta, who received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1980. Her husband, Carl Andre, 49, was thought to have pushed her from the 34-story window in the Greenwich Village, NYC apartment.

Mendieta’s death stirred this fear of toxic masculinity. In this painting, my heroine is falling. There is no way out; not even the pigeons can help her. Pigeons—symbolically messengers of love—are a big reminder of how important community is. One of the pigeons (references Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling) tries to reach his wing to our heroine, and she reaches out her hand. Iconographically, I added the pigeons as the outside observer, “the Greek chorus,” watching our heroine fall to her departure from life.

“Flamingo Girl”

Your paintings delve into the lore of the “girl”; can you share how this theme empowers femininity in your work?

I have been painting the lore of the “girl” since high school. In the last 15+ years, infused with elements of surrealism and magical realism, my work focuses on a central solid female figure, which I denote as a “heroine.” My investigation into my heroine is to pair her with her animal antagonist or protagonist. Friend or foe, they “walk” my heroine down the path of their Dharma.

In many societies, the experiences and perspectives of young women have been marginalized or trivialized. I give voice to the unique experiences, dreams, and challenges faced by women of all ages, reasserting their importance.

Feminine strength doesn’t always manifest in traditional forms of power. My work explores the strength found in vulnerability, sensitivity, and emotional depth. This challenges stereotypes about women and empowers them by showing that their emotions and experiences are valid and significant.

My earlier work, back in the '90s and 2000s, was harsh and direct about the plight of women and the world. Now, I try to create a delicate balance between reality and my weird world in my paintings. "Flamingo Girl," a painting from my solo show at KP Projects (Merry Karnowsky Gallery) in Los Angeles, 2021, was all about balance—and how the flamingo shows our hero how to balance what life throws at you.

“Follow the White Rabbit”

As someone who draws inspiration from dream journals, how do elements like alchemy and tarot shape your art’s narratives?

I am a huge Tarot aficionado. My partner and I travel to events and take classes with all sorts of experts on the subject and the Cube of Space. I love the images and magic of the cards. Alchemy is many times misunderstood—it is an ancient branch of natural philosophy. When I have a number in a dream, I always refer it to one of the Tarot cards.

By incorporating elements like alchemy and tarot into my art, I believe I can create narratives beyond the surface and invite viewers to delve into the deeper layers of their experiences and emotions. I love adding elements of iconography and Jungian philosophy, empowering the observer to explore their own personal journeys and transformations.

My solo exhibition at the 501(c)(3) Second Street Gallery in Charlottesville, Virginia, was called "The Ceremony of Innocence." My painting "Follow the White Rabbit" is layered with many meanings—sex, drugs (as in the Grace Slick song), and going down that rabbit hole of life… never really knowing what is next.

“Face to Face”

Being a self-taught artist but having a formal education in Cinema, how do these two worlds intersect in your creative process?

Interestingly, I was selected to go to Pratt and turned it down to go to USC Cinema School. I think if I had gone to Pratt, I would be an abstract artist today. Instead, going to film school and learning about narrative structure—which can be applied to storytelling in visual art—influenced how I construct narratives within my artwork.

There, I studied with legend Bruce Block, one of the inventors of the IMAX Theatre. He taught “visual storytelling,” like deep and flat space, shape, tone, color, and rhythm. I use these components to convey moods and emotions, create a visual style, and utilize the vital relationship between the viewer and my artwork.

In the painting "Face to Face," another artwork for the Second Street Gallery solo exhibition, the painting stars a young girl and a bull. One could be reminded of the sculptures on Wall Street in NYC. Yet this is the story of myself—facing my fears and going nose to nose with what I dread. It is also the story of the summers I spent in San Miguel de Allende as a child, and being forced every year to attend the town’s bullfights, hating it, and feeling sorry for the underdog—the bull.

This painting is about connecting with your strength and connecting to the side that might die one day.

With multiple exhibitions across diverse global locations, which place or event most significantly impacted your journey?

These have been significant questions, and this one is probably the hardest of all of them. All my exhibitions have impacted my journey. Yet, there is one that probably far outweighs the rest.

I got my start at La Luz de Jesus Gallery in Hollywood, California. The director at the time, Matt Kennedy, saw my artwork and gave me my first solo show. He believed in the work. Until that time, I was a closeted artist—very frightened to show my artwork, mainly because my paintings were facets of myself.

Billy Shire, the owner of La Luz de Jesus and considered the “grandfather of pop surrealism,” has been an enormous support and a collector of my work—which I am super honored by. Billy has one of the best private collections of surrealism in the world. I have done three solo exhibitions there, which included working with the new director, Matthew Gardocki. La Luz de Jesus Gallery has been very special to me.