Shyama Golden

Bio

Shyama Golden’s oil and acrylic paintings use figuration to explore the complex and layered ways identity is experienced, performed, and reinforced. Her current series features Sri Lankan masked folk dancers disguised as Yakkas (devil dancers) who traditionally perform in colorful and often comedic exorcism rituals to remove unseen spirits causing physical and mental ailments. The original symbolism of the Yakkas is used in scenes where the artist combines self portraiture with Yakkas who act out the artist’s ongoing inner conflicts. Many of her current paintings also take inspiration from the semi-wild and hilly Mount Washington neighborhood in Los Angeles where she lives. Her work has been featured on covers for The New York Times, LA Times, and Netflix Queue as well as various book covers such as Shruti Swamy’s Archer, Fatimah Asghar’s If They Come for Us, Akweke Emezi’s PET and BITTER and in films such as LITTLE, Fletch, and Boxing Day. She has exhibited at Jeffrey Deitch Gallery NYC and LA, Micki Meng / Friends Indeed Gallery in SF, and Trotter & Sholer in NYC.