ABOUT MEGHAN
BIOGRAPHY
Meghan Lewis MacLeod is ecofeminist, mixed media, abstract artist and photographer based in the SF Bay Area exploring transpersonal terrains where unseen influence and inspiration take shape. Granddaughter to a milliner who studied in Paris and immigrated to Illinois from Moravia, and a photojournalist grandparent whose roots in the Scottish Highlands have a stronghold on her heart.
An apprentice to photographer Ansel Adam was Meghan’s first formal art instructor before her eighteenth birthday. Born outside of Detroit, she ventured to the University of Michigan School of Art to study mixed media and clinical psychology. Concurrent to completing her doctorate at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology specializing in perinatal mental health through the lens of expressive arts and energy medicine, Meghan worked for the former Dean of the California College of the Arts, renowned feminist artist, Suzanne Lacy, as her public and fine art business assistant. Later Meghan became a perinatal art therapist, birth care professional, community organizer, and founding director of the Oakland, CA based nonprofit, the LGBTQ Perinatal Wellness Center.
At long last, Meghan stepped in front of the easel in her very own Berkeley studio in the fall of ‘22 and in a few short months became an award winning, published, internationally exhibiting artist with a textile contract and commissions in the works. Meghan is always delighted to delve into her abstract painting practice wherein time simultaneously stands still and seemingly soars. In a creative, semi-trance of heightened anticipation, she mixes and moves pigment across cradled panel or yupo paper and with a combined sense of wonder and euphoria, depicts vibrant arrays of rhythms in a cacophony of color.
STATEMENT
Cycles of the seasons, moods of the moon, weather patterns, forest fae, water and fire elementals, biomorphic fields, and all things perinatal continuously awe and inspire my creative musings. My process of mixed media abstract art making employs several iterations- initially as a kind of dowsing experiment; The brush or oil stick, a rod I subtly or exaggeratedly move across the substrate sometimes scratching into the surface as if on a kind of archeological dig with utmost care and concentration all the while conjuring the occurrence of the nascent configurations. As seemingly unformed forces make themselves more visible on the surface of the canvas or board- once intangible musings then a sort of sur/render into an alchemical current; In excited anticipation, I await the clarifying marks and brushstrokes as they delineate the basic elements integral to the composition. Toward the final iterations, with each declarative layer of color, texture, and form, I begin to perceive the inherent underlying essence of the image, its meaning or message.
The universal truth of intuition infuses, inspires, and guides each piece. My art making process is a contemplation on the ever-interconnected, non-dual nature of psyche and its inherent evolutionary capacities. The profoundly poignant images of Mendieta, Chicago, Af Klint, and Saar’s purpose-laden works continually fill my eyes with visual hope. I hold the intention that viewers who engage my paintings may freely find some moments of resourceful, reflective renewal.
EDUCATION
Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, PhD in Clinical Psychology with Specialization in Eco-Feminist, Creative Arts-based Counseling, 2000
University of California, Berkeley Extension, Art Therapy Program, 1997
University of Michigan, School of Art & Design and College of Literature Science & the Arts, BA, 1993
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Creative Arts-based, Clinical Counseling, Oakland, CA, 2000-Current
Founding Director, LGBTQ Perinatal Wellness Center, Oakland, CA 2017–Current
East Bay Express, Columnist, Oakland, CA, 2015-2016
Suzanne Lacy, Art Business Assistant, Oakland, CA, 1998-1999
ARTIST CURATED EXHIBITIONS
Annual Queer Family Portrait Photography Exhibits:
Natural Resources, San Francisco, CA, 2023
(Open Call for Art for Exhibition June, 2023)
Natural Resources, San Francisco, CA, 2018
Qulture Collective, Oakland, CA, 2018
Oakland LGBTQ Community Center, Oakland, CA, 2017
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
Portals, Arc Gallery, Juried by Karen Gutfreund, San Francisco, 2023
Winter Artist Residency, Jen Tough Gallery, Santa Fe, NM, ARTSY
Celebrating Pride, West Elm Featured Local Artist, San Mateo, CA Showroom and Pop-Up Artist, Emeryville, CA, 2023
Postcards from Paradise, Voss Gallery, Juror Haylee Barsky, curator and founder of Visionary Projects, NY, 2023
Cake, CAMi Vineyards Art + Wine, Calistoga, CA, Juried by Laurie Shelton, 2023
Nimbash Art Auction Fundraiser for Nimbus Art Center, Charles Krug Winery, St. Helena, CA.
Juried by Chandra Cerrito, Matt Rodgers, and Nancy Willis, 2023
SF City Art Cooperative Gallery, Gallery Member Exhibitions, San Francisco, CA, 2023
111 Minna Gallery Art Auction Fundraiser, Juried by ArtSpan, San Francisco, CA, SF, 2023, Jurors:
Michelle Delaney, Co-Owner, 111 Minna Gallery; The Institute of Contemporary Art SF; Griff Williams, Founder, Gallery 16;
Stephen Gilbert, Art Collector; DeeDee Hunt, Owner, Hunt & Gather Gallery; Roberto Martinez, Exhibitions Director, Richmond Art Center;
KT Seibot, Co-Founder, Moth Belly Gallery & Studios; Renee Villasenor, Programs Manager & Curatorial Associate
Taking Shape: Abstraction to Figuration, Jen Tough Gallery, Santa Fe, NM, Juried by Jen Tough, Exhibited on ARTSY.net, 2023
Believe, Gallerium, Toronto, Ontario, 2023
Art and Cultures of the World, Marin Society of Artists, San Rafael, CA, Juried by Diane Williams, 2023
True Beauty, Exhibizone, Toronto, Ontario, 2023
Zephyr, Pour-d, Rockford, MI, Juried by Tree Anderson, 2023
Shapes and Colors, Gallerium, Toronto, Ontario, 2023
Roe 2.0: It Ain’t Over Yet, Woman Made Art, Chicago, IL, 2023
Space, Rock Paper Scissors Collective Gallery, Oakland, CA, Juried by Pam Kohler and the Gallery Committee, 2023
Water, Marin Society of Artist, San Rafael, CA, Juried by Kim Eagles-Smith, Director, Kim Eagles-Smith Gallery, Mill Valley, CA, 2023
Into the Light, Jen Tough Gallery, Santa Fe, NM, Juried by Laura Sanders, Exhibited on ARTSY.net, 2023
2022
Holiday Spirit, San Francisco Women Artist Gallery, San Francisco, CA, Juried by Philip M. Bewley, Philip Bewley Art Advisory, 2022
Embodiment, Red Door Gallery, Alameda, CA, Juried by Yolanda Cotton Turner, 2022
East Bay Open Studios, Berkeley, CA, 2022
AWARDS
Distinguished Alumni Award for Commitment to Community Service, Sofia University / Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, Costa Mesa, CA, 2022
PRESS
Roe 2.0 Woman Made Gallery Press Release
Elizabeth Wallace, CNN, Pride beyond parades: How the LGBTQ celebration is enjoyed around the US, April, 2019
Ashvini Malshe, Mission Local, Pride 2019: Mission photo exhibit highlights ‘the beauty of queer families’, June, 2019
PUBLICATIONS
The Book of Arts: Believe, Gallerium, Toronto, Ontario, 2023
The Book of Arts: Shapes and Colors, Gallerium, Toronto, Ontario, 2023
Artistonish Contemporary Art Magazine, 30th Issue, Vancouver, British Columbia, 2023
East Bay Artists Book, ArtPush, Alameda, CA, 2022
We’Moon Calendar Planner, Mother Tongue Ink, Wolf Creek, OR, 2000
Artists as Midwives in the Cultural Rebirth of Contemporary Goddess Iconography: An Ecofeminist and Heuristic Inquiry,
Lewis, M, Doctoral Dissertation, University of Michigan Press, 2000
MEMBERSHIPS
ArtSpan SF
SF City Art Cooperative Gallery
Jen Tough Gallery Artist Alliance
Marin Society of Artists
NorCal Wax
Northern California Women’s Caucus for Art
San Francisco Women Artists Gallery
Women’s Caucus for Art
PRAISE
“The overanalyzing part of my brain takes a break. Pleasing and calming indeed, while remaining super vibrant, fresh and soulful.”
- J. Ardis
“Her art has that certain special something that makes me FEEL something important. Meghan's art has done that for me consistently and it's a real joy to be witness of shared humanity, flowing as a common unspoken language and translated onto a canvas.”
- S.Freiden
“I love the pops of color in Meghan’s work and the way the vertical lines interplay with the rounded shapes and some shapes just totally break free. I like the mood.”
- L. Boehm