Audrey Byrd: Solo Show

On January 9th, Audrey Byrd will be hosting her first solo show at The Studio. Byrd, a fairly new player in the Tulsa Art Scene, is currently a medical student at OSU Tulsa. She realized her passion for painting at the start of quarantine.

“I was pretty much house bound,” Byrd recalls, “I needed something to remove myself from studying because I slept, ate, and studied all in the same place.” 

She transformed her dining room into a makeshift studio and went to work. At first, she planned only to decorate her space and give paintings as gifts. But this amateur artist was soon offered money for her work, and, in Byrd’s words, “it really blossomed from there.” 

Photos by Amanda Martin @_studiojane_

Now, Byrd has sold hundreds of pieces, all while studying for her exams. And you can see why just by looking at her work. Bold, chunky strokes and bright colors define Byrd’s eccentric style. But her art is more than just a vibrant pop to add to a room, it has serious depth. Byrd, whose main medical interests lie in obstetrics, wants to bridge her lives in medicine and art. She is planning for her first show to be centered around kinder ways of looking at the human body. 

“I think that it's never a bad time to talk about body positivity, sexuality, and consent and boundaries,” she said. “I want the show to be a way to help the women in my life and in my community to just feel more comfortable with expressing themselves.”

Catch the full artist profile that will be available in aslutzine in April. In the meantime, follow Audrey Byrd’s work @audreybyrdart and catch some of the donation-based art she does @art_for_advocacy.