Tamera Avery Personal Statement My work is a celebration of youth, where the young are the champions of change in flawed social, political, and environmental landscapes. Faced with ever-mounting global change, the young have the knowledge to understand what is at stake and—with their increasingly powerful voices—the ability to rearrange the balance of power. To shift this balance visually, my subjects wear masks and costumes that augment their agency and the space they take up. Originally prompted by folk carnivals celebrating the arrival of spring, I employ found images and objects along with homemade costumes to portray figures modest in composition but heroic in execution. Through a process starting with collage, isolated images function as vocabulary, deconstructing visual truths and reconstructing them into stories that call for action. Using imagery from the White House to Chernobyl, icebergs to abandoned ships, I work at the intersection of the current reality and the possibility of change to tell a story of hope in a landscape of despair—with armor-clad youth standing in the path of destruction. Solo & Two Person Exhibitions2020 In the Wake, Gearbox Gallery, Oakland, California2019 Hell’s Valley, Jen Tough Gallery, Benicia, California2019 Split Screen, Gearbox Gallery, Oakland, California2018 Off the Rails, Merced College Art Gallery, Merced, California2017 Inner Gallery, Gearbox Gallery, Oakland, California Group Shows2022 Fascination, Andra Norris Gallery, Burlingame, California2020 The de Young Open Exhibit, de Young Museum, San Francisco, California2020 Left Coast Annual Juried Exhibition, Sanchez Art Center, Pacifica, California2020 Over and Under, Richmond Art Center, Richmond, California2019 Salon at the Triton Competition, Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara, California2019 Art Market San Francisco, Jen Touch Gallery, San Francisco, California2019 Wild Things, A POPUP Exhibition, Jen Tough Galley, San Francisco, California2019 Crocker Kingsley Exhibition, Roseville, California2019 Switching Gears, Axis Gallery, Sacramento, California2018 Salon at the Triton Competition, Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara, California2018 New Land, A POPUP Exhibition, Jen Tough Gallery, San Francisco, California2018 After Dark, Arts Benicia, Benicia California2018 Summer Show, Jen Tough Gallery, Benicia, California2018 Art Santa Fe, Jen Tough Gallery, New Mexico, 2018 Gearbox Gallery, Oakland, California2017 Salon at the Triton Competition, Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara, California2017 Wild/Mind, Gearbox Gallery, Oakland, California2016 Fresh Works, Harrington Gallery, Pleasanton, California2016 Salon at the Triton Competition, Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara, California2015 Gems III, Arts Benicia, Benicia, California2015 Left Coast Annual, Sanchez Art Center, Pacifica, California2015 West Coast Biennial Exhibition, Turtle Bay Museum, Redding, California2014 Summer National, Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, Novato, California2013 Statewide Painting Competition, Triton Museum of Arts, Santa Clara, California 2013 Where to From There?, Pro Arts Juried Annual, Oakland, California2013 Array, Berkeley Art Center, Berkeley, California2013 A Date with the Devil, Napa Valley Museum, Yountville, California2013 28th Annual Tallahassee International, Museum of Fine Arts, Florida State University Publication2020 Identity, Jen Tough Gallery2020 New American Paintings #145 Pacific Coast2013 28th Annual Tallahassee International (catalogue) Awards2020 Juror’s Award, 2020 Left Coast Annual, Sanchez Art Center, Pacifica, California2019 First Place, Crocker Kingsley Exhibition, Blue Line Art, Roseville, California2018 First Place Painting, Salon at the Triton, Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara, California 2017 First Place Painting, Salon at the Triton, Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara, California 2017 Gearbox Award, Gearbox Gallery, Oakland, California