Artist Statement
My process is rooted in figure drawing, and guided by a compassionate curiosity for my subjects, who are often my friends and peers. These observations lead me to moments of emotional resonance that I expand through imaginary narratives, realized in chalk pastels or oil paintings.
I consider stories of confusion, desire, contradiction, and revelation in a world of fairytales and legends. I’m interested in how fantasies create and inform our collective consciousness, and how they can be used to confront intimate and persisting truths about the human experience.
The figures in my work are often pictured alone, naked, and vulnerable – they are on individual journeys. Each yearns for enlightenment, but first
they must reconcile with themselves. This transformative force casts aside the shadows of shame and subjugation that have become synonymous with their flesh.
The human body is our universal condition: the manifestation of who we are, who we were, and who we may become. It is our portal to the divine, and yet also a battleground. In defiance to a society that oppresses, objectifies, and seeks to divide us by our bodies, I use my artwork to express radical love for the material of humanity.
Bio
Tulia Day is a multidisciplinary artist born in San Francisco and raised in Philadelphia, where she currently works and resides. In 2018, Tulia earned a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts from Hamilton College, where she received awards for her artistic achievements. After completing independent studies in observational painting and a studio internship with The Philadelphia Sketch Club, Tulia collaborated with local artists to create a weekly life drawing workshop in Philadelphia. This workshop, hosted by the Upstairs Smoking Section art collective, has run weekly from 2021 to present day, employing over 30 models and attended by well over 200 members of the collective. Tulia has exhibited work at galleries including Loft Abstract, The Philadelphia Sketch Club, Site Brooklyn, and Lore Degenstein. Her portraits have been commissioned by patrons nationally and abroad. She is currently a co-curator and member of Upstairs Smoking Section Art Collective.
C.V.
EXHIBITION HISTORY
Group Exhibition, First Friday Showcase, Loft Abstract Gallery, December 2024
Group Exhibition, HERSpace, Open Space, May 2023
Group Exhibition, Works on Paper, Philadelphia Sketch Club, Mar 2023
Group Exhibition, Series, Site Brooklyn Gallery, September 2022
Group Exhibition, No Man’s Land, ShockBoxx Gallery, March 2022
Group Exhibition, Lore Degenstein Gallery’s 12th Annual Figurative Drawing and Painting Exhibition, Lore Degenstein Gallery, November 2021
Solo Exhibition, Drunk Drawings, Upstairs Smoking Section Art Collective, August 2021
Group Exhibition, Cyborg Suicide, Upstairs Smoking Section Art Collective, May 2021
Group Exhibition, Works on Paper, Philadelphia Sketch Club, Jan 2021
Group Exhibition, Dreams and the Unconscious Mind, Hosted by Bean2Bean, Sept 2020
Group Exhibition, HERSpace, Philadelphia Art Collective, Nov 2019
Group Exhibition, Nude Night Philly, Sculpture Courtyard, Oct 2018
Group Exhibition, After Image, Hamilton College Studio Arts Thesis, May 2018
Solo Exhibition, Life Drawings, Hamilton College Art Department, Aug-Dec 2017
Solo Exhibition, Independent Study in Oil Painting, Hamilton College Art Department, May 2016
EVENTS
From Summer to You, Room43 Events, July 2024
Community Art & Muse(ic) Night, Muse Yoga, June 2024
Friday Nights at Tattooed Mom, Room43 Events, January 2024
Home Grown Network Block Party, Room43 Events, September 2023
From Summer to You, Room43 Events, August 2023
Waffles and Wine Art Show, Old City Jewish Arts Center, July 2023
EDUCATION
Bachelor of Arts ♦ Hamilton College
Graduated phi beta kappa. Honors in Studio Art, May 2018.
Award Recipient, Ann Miller Harden Prize Scholarship, Hamilton College, Sept 2016
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Awarded to the outstanding woman painter at the end of her sophomore year.
Award Recipient, The Carter Family Prize Scholarship, Hamilton College, May 2015
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Awarded to a student who excels in the visual or performing arts, who is a talented writer, and who maintains a minimum average of 3.0.
ADDITIONAL EXPERIENCE
Co-curator, Upstairs Smoking Section Art Collective, Philadelphia, PA ♦ March 2021 – Present
Assistant, Hagopian Arts, Philadelphia, PA ♦ August 2023 – July 2024
Purchasing Coordinator, Moore College of Art and Design, Philadelphia, PA ♦ March 2020 – March 2021
Assistant to the Senior Vice President of Finance and Administration, Moore College of Art and Design, Philadelphia, PA ♦ January 2020 – March 2020
Special Events Intern, Fleisher Art Memorial, Philadelphia, PA ♦ September 2019 – February 2020
E-Board Member, Hamilton College Art Collective, Clinton, NY ♦ January 2015 – May 2018
Gallery Intern, Philadelphia Sketch Club, Philadelphia, PA ♦ May 2017 – September 2017
Poetry Head Editor, Red Weather Literary Magazine, Clinton, NY ♦ August 2016 – May 2017
Editorial Intern, McIntosh & Otis Literary Agency, New York, NY ♦ January 2017 – June 2017
SPACES Residency Intern, Village of Arts and Humanities, Philadelphia, PA ♦ May 2016 – October 2016
MURALS
Welcome and Workshop Signs, June 2023. Sacred Path Collective, Philadelphia, PA.
Mural Renewal, August 2022. Original by Caula Buchnik, Café Olé, 2004. Café Olé, Philadelphia, PA.
Comedians in Fishtown: Exit Door, March 2021. Punchline Philly Comedy Club, Live Nation Entertainment, Philadelphia, PA.
Comedians in Fishtown: Stage Door, October 2021. Punchline Philly Comedy Club, Live Nation Entertainment, Philadelphia, PA.
Assistant, Julia Jacquette, Unrequited and Acts of Play, January 2017. Wellin Museum, Hamilton College, Clinton, NY.