theresa byrnes profile picture

theresa byrnes

About Me

I live in NY in the East Village and I paint in my heavenly studio in Chelsea. I exhibit my paintings all over the world. My first book, 'The Divine Mistake', was published by Pan-McMillan Australia in 1999 and my second book is now under development. I am currently editing my first film, 'Little Bird', which is sweet and quirky. I hope to preview it late '07. I have just completed a new body of paintings, 'Beings', and have just commenced developing a new project incorporating performance art, painting, experimental video, and photography. I make no excuses and live my life to capacity. I'm having a ball.

My Interests

My interests outside of making art are training my body into a strong and beautiful temple through which I can shine. I also like going to flea markets and finding treasures.

I'd like to meet:

People who have devoted years of their lives honing their skills and have no fear of failure.I would like to meet people in the art world, particularly performance artists and painters who work with ink.

Music:

I listen to it all the time and depending on the year my tastes have really changed;when I was 13 - it was punk rock - when I was 11 it was The Beatles and John Lennon - when I was 16 it was Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie, Frank Zappa, Aretha Franklin and Edith Piaf. I like reggae, some r&b, some funk and some alternative, world music, Indian mantras to Ganesha, Shiva or Kali. My iTunes library is about 50Gigs big. Right now I am listening to the soundtrack for my film 'Little Bird'. Each song represents a particular scene, and stirs a visual and emotional sense of what I want to get across in the scene, and what I feel for it. Right now it is on 'St Agnes and the Burning Tree' by Sting (Soul Cages). Many of my best friends seem to be musicians or film makers.

Movies:

If a film promises to inform a current project I am spellbound. I like documentaries. I love the magic of film as a medium for my creative consumption and vision.

Television:

I only watch Sex in the City - thats a bit of a confession. The occasional PBS documentary. maybe the news occasionally.

Books:

I'm reading 4 books at the moment. Top of the list: 'Sacred Pleasure' by Rainiane Eisler. I find reading and research an important part of my creative process. I'm not into fiction and I love non-fiction. Life is frickin amazing - who needs to make any crap up? I'm really into feminist literature, philosphy, history and modern and ancient thought encompassing physics and religion.

Heroes:

Germaine Greer - an Australian feminist scholar. She is my hero because she loves contemplation - being devoured by research and coming up with an answer. Despite the ensuing critical debate, she holds firm and rocks on to produce her next mind-blowing world-challenging manuscript. Also my wonderful art assistant Bobboshki aka Bobbi Bennett, who assists me in the studio and who I can order around to my heart's content and who saves me when I over-extend myself.