Lydia Farrell

Lydia Farrell is an artist based in their hometown of Littleton, Colorado. Farrell earned a BA from Knox College, a post-baccalaureate certificate from Brandeis University, and an MFA from Boston University in 2015 before returning to Colorado. Farrell has participated in residencies in Beijing, China; the Vermont Studio Center; and the Art Students League of New York’s VYT Residency. Their work has been reviewed in publications including Southwest Contemporary and DARIA Art Magazine.

Farrell’s paintings transform familiar suburban settings into scenes charged with a blend of humor and the macabre.  Drawing from their experiences growing up along the Front Range, Farrell uses fluorescent color, crisp detail, and layered compositions to recast everyday spaces as theatrical stages where the ordinary tilts toward the uncanny.

Personal reflections—including themes of sobriety—merge with references to folklore, horror tropes, and the exaggerated logic of urban legends. Spectral figures, cryptic symbols, and mischievous creatures inhabit driveways and front yards, mingling with pets and domestic objects in strange, unexpected ways. Even at their darkest, these scenes hum with humor and vitality. Farrell’s neon palette and cartoonlike distortions keep the work balanced between dread and delight, blurring the line between the real and the surreal.