About me

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Sierra Merda is a Lithuanian-born painter and draftsperson based in New York City. Her work has been exhibited across Europe, the United Kingdom, and most recently in the United States, where she presented her debut solo show to international attention. Rooted in London’s Feminist Punk/DIY/Underground scenes, she earned an MFA in Painting (Anatomy Track) from the New York Academy of Art in 2025, receiving the Martha & Walter Erlebacher Award and Chubb Fellowship (2025–2026), the Academy’s highest student honour.
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Sierra draws on her experience as a female navigating a world shaped by male-dominated history and aesthetics. She uses traditional painting language to explore and subvert classical ideals, merging historical iconography with the emotional intensity of contemporary life. Humour, vulnerability, and disruption are central to her approach to beauty and the body in her work.

 
Resume / Curriculum Vitae

Education, courses, residencies

  • 2025-present  Fellowship at the New York Academy of Art
  • 2023-2025 MFA in Painting (Anatomy Track) New York Academy of Art
  • 2022 Summer Residency Programme at New York Academy of Art
  • 2022 Residential Training Course in Life Painting & Drawing, Vilnius Youth Art Club Jaunyste, Vilnius, Lithuania
  • 2022 Public course, The Expressive Body, Royal Drawing School, UK
  • 2021 Public course, Sustained Poses, Royal Drawing School, UK
  • 2010-2013 Painting & Drawing B.A. (Hons), University of Northampton, UK
  • 2008-2010 National M.K. Ciurlionis School of Arts, Vilnius, Lithuania 

Solo exhibitions
  • 2026 March 19 - April 12 Venus from the Block, SLA Art Space, New York, USA
     
Group exhibitions

  • 2025 Take Home a Nude, Phillips Auction House, New York, USA
  • 2025 Gallery Opening Special Exhibit, Rohmer Gallery, Saugerties, New York, USA
  • 2025 Spring Small Works Show, The Convent Philly, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
  • 2025 This Is My Body, Art and Design Gallery at the Edgerrton Centre for Performing Arts, Sacred Heart University,  Fairfield, Connecticut, USA 
  • 2025 Some-body, Mr. Kills Gallery, New York, USA
  • 2024 Deck The Walls, New York Academy of Art, NYC, USA
  • 2024 Summer Show, Forum Gallery,  NYC, USA
  • 2024 Open Studios, New York Academy of Art, NYC, USA
  • 2023 Deck the Walls, New York Academy of Arts, NYC, USA
  • 2023 'Every Day Rituals', New York Academy of Arts, NYC USA
  • 2023 WoM Collective Show,  Penge Rooftop Gallery, Blenheim Centre,London, UK
  • 2022 Summer Residency at New York Academy of Arts, NYC, USA
  • 2022 Commercial Break : The Art of Subvertising, Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien, Berlin, Germany
  • 2021 Art in The Age of Now, Fulham Town Hall, London, UK
  • 2020 We Consume - Exhibition, Performance, Workshops and Direct Action Week curtailed due COVID-19. The Ugly Duck, London, UK
  • 2020 WoM-inspired Art festival, Camberwell, London, UK
  • 2020 We Walk Among You: Womxn’s Strike Exhibition, Cre8 LifeStyle Centre, London, UK
  • 2020 Too Many Cars: An Evening of Ad Blocking - postponed due COVID-19, Grow Hackney, London, UK
  • 2020 Navi:Gation, Italy, Macao Centre for Culture, Milan, Italy
  • 2020 Inktober at Great Art, London, UK
  • 2019 Anamorphic Waves, In Transition : How technology is changing human behaviour, The Ugly Duck, London, UK
  • 2019 13/12 The London Action Resource Centre, London, UK
  • 2018 Not The Anarchist Book Fair, Freedom Bookshop, London, UK
  • 2018 The Anarchist Feminist Party, London, UK
  • 2017 breXmas, Crow's Nest Gallery, London, UK
  • 2017 Surgery Slave, For.Fuck.Sake, London, UK
  • 2017 OUROBOROS, Underdog Gallery, London, UK
  • 2016 Ouroboros. Bantam, Undercurrents Gallery, London, UK
  • 2016 UK Young Artists National Festival : Derby, University of Derby, Derby, UK
  • 2016 Modern Panic VII, Newspeak House, London, UK
  • 2016 Grand opening of Decentre, Decentre Autonomous Space, London, UK
  • 2015 Down State, Kohreal, Zurich, Switzerland
  • 2015 All London Bike Courier Emergency Fundraiser, London, UK
  • 2015 London Wall Street, Crow’s Nest Gallery, London, UK
  • 2015 Forest Arts Festival, Hambahforst, Cologne, Germany
  • 2015 25th Anniversary of Riggear Strasse, Berlin, Germany
  • 2015 Crack! Printed Arts Festival, Forte Prenestino, Rome, Italy
  • 2014 Artcore International 2014, Hotel Elephant Gallery, London, UK
  • 2013 Opening Show, Undercurrents Gallery, London, UK
  • 2013 Temporary Autonomous Art, London, UK
  • 2013 Graduate Show, University of Northampton, Northampton, UK
  • 2012 Temporary Autonomous Art, Walthamstow, London, UK
  • 2012 Free Range Art & Design Show, Old Trumans Brewery, London, UK


Scholarships & grants and awards

  • 2025 Martha & Walter Erlebacher Award, New York Academy of Arts
  • 2025 - long listed for Jackson Art Prize, UK. 
  • 2024-2025 Patron's Scholar Award, New York Academy of Arts, New York, USA
  • 2023-2025 Merit Scholarship at New York Academy of Arts, New York, USA
  • 2024 Nominee for LCU Women 2024 President's Award for Excellence in Leadership, New York, USA
  • 2024 LCU  Housing Assistance Grant for Women, New York Academy of Arts, New York, USA
  • 2023 Nominated Best Black Work tattoo category, Best UK Tattoo Artists Tattoo convention, Birmingham, UK
  • 2022 Merit Scholarship for Summer Residency Programme at New York Academy of Arts, New York, USA
  • 2021 Winner, Best blackwork tattoo, Great British Tattoo Show, Alexandra Palace, London, UK
  • 2019 Reboot The Roots grant for creating an installation with The Nave collective at Anamorphic Waves, In Transition : How Technology Is Changing Human Behaviour, The Ugly Duck, Southwark, London, UK
  • 2017 Arts Council Arts Grant for project OUROBOROS : Inclusive Arts Festival, Worksop & Performance Week, Underdog Gallery, London, UK
  • 2015 Reboot The Roots grant for participation in Crack! Printed Art Festival, Forte Prenestino, Rome, Italy


Publications, artwork features, interviews Curatorial

  • 2020 Curator and Head of Visual Art Department at We Consume - Exhibition, Performance, Workshops and Direct Action Week curtailed due COVID-19. The Ugly Duck, London, UK
  • 2017 Curator and project manager, OUROBOROS : Inclusive Arts Festival, Worksop & Performance Week, Underdog Gallery, London, UK
  • 2016 Curator, Ouroboros. Bantam, Undercurrents Gallery, London


Educational


  • Drawing the Figure course instructor, Undergraduate Summer Residency, New York Academy of Art
  • 2021 Politically Infused Collaborative Mural Workshop, Macao Cultural Centre, Milan, Italy
  • 2018-2019 Radical Aesthetics, life drawing evenings, Decentre, London, UK


As a muralist

  • 2022 Mural promotion for Lisa Tadeo’s book ‘Animal’, sponsored by Bloomsbury Publishing in partnership with Wom Collective, Blackfriars Bridge, London, UK
  • 2020 Politically Infused Mural Workshop at Navi:Gation Milan, Macao Cultural Centre, Milan, Italy
  • 2016 Decentre Autonomous Space, Freedom Bookshop, London, UK
  • 2015 Artcore International, Wall Street, Crow’s Nest Gallery, London,UK
  • 2015 Arts Fest, Hambachforst, Cologne, Germany
  • 2015 Crack! Printed Art Festival, Forte Prenestino, Roma, Italy
  • 2015 25 Jahre Anniversary, 94 Katersmichede, Rigaerstrasse, Berlin, Germany




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