Lynda Andrews-Barry

About the Artist

Mid-Atlantic-based artist Lynda Andrews-Barry has a multidisciplinary practice encompassing time-based media, installations and sculptures created from found and fabricated objects that reflect the often unseen or ignored beauty of our world. Her work has been featured in books, won numerous awards, and been shown and sold at various art venues including the National Building Museum, The National Women’s Museum, as well as the Smithsonian’s Renwick Gallery. Her public art projects have been installed in the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey and Florida. Recent solo exhibitions by Andrews-Barry occurred in 2018 at the Rockville Civic Center at Glenview Mansion in Maryland, and in the Waddell Gallery at the Loudon Campus of Northern Virginia Community College in 2019.  Lynda received her BA in Interior Design from Mount Vernon College (now George Washington University), and is a graduate of the last class of The Corcoran College of Art + Design, with a Masters of Art in Exhibition Design. Her exhibition credits include the renovation of Sandy Spring Museum, and the design for a year-long installation of the Smithsonian’s collection of Art Glass & Pottery in the National Museum of American History. Originally from Berkeley, California, Lynda lives in Kensington, Maryland and maintains her studio in Reedville, Virginia.

Artist's Statement

I am interested in line, color, space, and audience. My artistic practice employs contemporary computer aided design paired with the traditional conceptual techniques of drawing, painting, sewing and photography. Working with my chosen mediums can be both challenging and exciting, as new technology is always a learning experience that involves solving puzzles, and metal fabrication is inherently dangerous to work in: I therefore incorporate both methods into most of my compositions. Mixing old with new while combining ready-made and hand-built objects, the sculptures and installations I create from found and fabricated things are intended as immersive experiences for viewers. I generate ideas for my work through research, and reflect the often unseen or ignored beauty of our world in my artistic interpretations, sometimes referred to as the “humble sublime”. The process begins with me preparing for an idea to happen: I am always thinking about transforming concepts into plans, and plans into projects. I collect things that are visually interesting to me, knowing that eventually they will find their way into a piece I’m working on. I keep a drawing pad close by for recording thoughts, and use my smart phone extensively to capture ideas by photo, video, recording, and illustration. All of these “sketches” transfer to my various digital devices which I use to render conceptual plans, and in the case of videos and photographs, the final products. My current body of work investigates how the relationship of one's actions affect the surrounding human landscape, and allow me to combine storytelling with my skills as a designer, fabricator and tech geek. My artistic intent is to create evocative experiences that allow for layers of interpretation and personal meaning. My goal is to develop and produce work that will challenge the viewer’s notions of transcendence, thus allowing a transformation of perspectives into something completely different, and possibly, reveal a deeper understanding into our own humanity.