Ciara Rafferty

San Diego native, Ciara Rafferty weaves together influence from art and social culture of the past with the oversaturated yet highly appealing framework of the modern digital age. The work alleges to depict reality, but it is a reality that is artificial and slightly skewed. Her paintings play with the increasingly present dichotomies between old and new, craft and technology, and the real and the imagined to investigate the uncanny relationship that these constructed realities produce. Her artwork resembles that of Rene Magritte and other prominent Surrealist painters of the 1920’s. Her artwork evokes a feeling of the unfamiliar or the eerie in the context of the everyday. The subject matter is lighthearted and pleasant but the more you look into the composition the viewer unlocks the truth of the scene; components seem to be missing, floating in space, there is no detectable life, and shadows are abstracted. Her paintings are infused with a subtle sense of humor amidst a nostalgic backdrop, and often depict empty gathering spaces. However, they also offer an optimistic outlook to the activities present with a deeper appreciation of their simple value.

Ciara received her BFA in Visual Arts and Art History from the University of San Diego in 2008 and her MFA from the New York Academy of Art in 2016. She has attended residencies at the Terra Foundation for American Art in Giverny, France, Altos de Chavón School of Design in La Romana, Dominican Republic and at the Cuttyhunk Island Residency in Cuttyhunk, MA. Recent exhibitions include No Lifeguard On Duty, Montauk Beach House, Lost Summer, Roman Fine Art, Scope New York 2019, Moniker Art Fair 2019, Philadelphia Fine Art Fair 2019, and Kitsch-In-Sync: Art and Its Opposite, Newport Beach.

Education

2016 M.F.A. Painting, New York Academy of Art
2009 B.A. Art History/B.A. Visual Arts, University of San Diego

Exhibitions

2024 Take Home A Nude, Sotheby’s Auction House, NYC
2024 Kylemore Residency Exhibition, NYC
2024 Museum School Art Auction San Diego
2022 University of San Diego Museum School Art Auction
2021 SCOPE Miami Beach Art Fair South Beach
2021 The Blue Review Art Prize Artsy
2020 Lost Summer, Sag Harbor, NY
2020 SCOPE New York Art Fair
2020 No Lifeguard on Duty, Roman Fine Art, East Hampton
2019 PULSE Art Fair Miami
2019 Tabula Rasa; The Watermill Center Benefit and Auction, NY
2019 SCOPE New York Art Fair
2019 Moniker Art Fair
2019 Philadelphia Fine Art Fair
2019 Kitsch-In-Sync: Art and Its Opposite, Coastline Art Gallery, Newport Beach
2018 SCOPE Miami Beach Art Fair
2018 South Beach Texas Contemporary Art Fair, Houston, Texas
2018 Nexus Silent Art Auction, Bread & Salt Gallery, San Diego
2018 Take Home A Nude, Sotheby’s Auction House, NYC
2018 Art America, Dalian Market Art + Design Fair,
2018 Future Stories, InterContinental NY Barclay Hotel, NYC
2018 SCOPE New York Art Fair, Metropolitan Pavilion
2018 Beyond Figuration – Art America Beijing, Cheng Xi Contemporary Art Center
2017 First Home, First Art, One Manhattan Square, NYC
2017 Take Home A Nude, Sotheby’s Auction House, NYC
2017 Art New York/Context Pier 94 Art Miami Fair
2017 Serena & Lily
2016 Right Left Brain, New York Academy of Art
2016 Water | Bodies, Southampton Arts Center, Southampton
2016 Giverny Residency Show, New York Academy of Art, NYC
2015 Brooklyn Down East Pop Up Show, Casablanca, NYC
2012 All Roads Lead to Tourmaline, Surfindian Gallery, San Diego 2009 Deeper Visions, Shelter Surf Shop, Long Beach

Awards

2021 The Blue Review Art Prize Honorable Mention, Sugarlift Gallery, NYC
2017 Fieldstones Artist Residency, Medusa, New York
2017 Cuttyhunk Artist Residency, Cuttyhunk Island, Massachusetts
2016 Altos de Chavon Artist in Residence, La Romana, Dominican Republic
2016 Commencement Speaker, New York Academy of Art
2015 Terra Foundation Residency, Giverny, France
2015 Katherine Chapin Memorial Fund Award, New York Academy of Art
2014/2015 Elected Student Artists Council Representative, New York Academy of Art
2014/2015 Merit Scholarship recipient, New York Academy of Art
2015 Academy Service Scholarship recipient, New York Academy of Art