C. FINLEY​​

B. Sedalia, MO

WEBSITE
INSTAGRAM

C. Finley is a visual artist, curator, teacher and the founder of the acclaimed Every Woman Biennial. Known for elaborate paintings, monumental public murals, multi-disciplinary collaborations and urban art interventions like her acclaimed wallpapered dumpsters, Finley's work is characterized by a bold use of color and an ephemeral spiritual quality often represented by the divine feminine. "Each and every mural feels like a miracle," she says. "Bringing color, joie de vivre and LOVE to the world is my life's work."

As the creator of the Every Woman Biennial – formerly the Whitney Houston Biennial (2014 to 2021) – C. Finley exhibited over 1,200 female-identifying and non-binary artists in New York, Los Angeles, and London. The result was an interdisciplinary explosion of art: paintings, performances, sculptures, films and even flash mobs! In an exceptionally radical act for such a grand-scale exhibition, not a single artist who submitted work was turned away – no one was rejected. The work of unknown artists hanging next to pieces by art stars like Micheline Thomas and Swoon. With a focus on social impact and its inclusive, community-engaged process, the Every Woman Biennial itself is a social practice artwork.

C. Finley's painting and public art produce the conditions needed to change our world, encouraging other artists to create alongside her in spaces defined by vibratory beauty where all are welcome to glimpse the utopia that is present when we allow ourselves to lean into it.

The Kiss (for Christine)

“The Kiss (for Christine) depicts female lovers in a passionate embrace, on the precipice of a kiss. Using geometric forms inspired by traditional American patchwork quilting, Finley captures the power of a love requited. Like the patches of a quilt, the individual becomes part of something larger. The kiss becomes a powerful metaphor for unity, expanded consciousness and collective transformation.“


Santa Lucia: The Channel of Inspiration

“Santa Lucia: The Channel of Inspiration features a larger-than-life detail of an Italian Renaissance painting by Cossa. In several of the uncorroborated accounts of Lucia’s life, her eyes are gouged out during her martyrdom, and in all of the stories her eyes are restored by God. Lucia means “light,” and I’ve rendered her eyes springing forth from a sapling tree – magic in action. The cobalt blue background creates a liminal space from which Lucia’s inner vision prevails.”


Isadora Caught Up In The Rapture Of Love

“Isadora Caught Up In The Rapture Of Love portrays Isadora Duncan in the full exaltation of life, the personification of joie de vivre. She is living, head thrown back, arms outstretched to all that life has to offer. A feeling of expansive possibility is highlighted through flowing fabrics on the moonlit water at twilight, the moment when day becomes night and the moon is full sail with possibilities.”