Bio / Statement / CV
MEGHAN OONA CLIFFORD
BIO
Born on 7/7/77, Meghan Oona Clifford always experienced life as something magical, and this sense of wonder informs her art practice. Through vibrant paintings and animations, Clifford explores consciousness and interconnection, with her brushstrokes echoing the motion of her great-grandmother’s hands weaving on a loom. Continuing in this lineage, Clifford uses the language of weaving to evoke a sense of organic unity, as many threads together becomes something more.
Recently, Clifford received the prestigious Develop Grant from the Arts Council of Santa Cruz County. Additionally, California’s Center for Cultural Innovation has awarded three grants in support of her work. She exhibits work nationally and throughout California, including at the New Museum Los Gatos (NUMU), the Museum of Northern California Art (MONCA), the San Francisco Art Institute, Fort Mason, 1AM Gallery, Club 6, Tribe 13, and 111 Minna Gallery. Clifford has participated in several artist residencies, including the Thrive Together Artist Network and Artist/Mother residencies. Her work has been featured by MTV, Studio Visit Magazine,The Utne Reader, iCanvas, Bored Panda, Women United Art Magazine, and Artist, Mother, Proud & Serious.
Clifford earned a BA from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA. She then worked in underground art spaces along the West Coast, curating events and connecting artists, before moving into eco-fashion design. In 2007, Clifford earned her MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute. She lives and works on six acres in Santa Cruz County, CA with her husband and two miracle babies. Every day they wake up and say, "Good morning, we are blessed.”
ARTIST STATEMENT
I am an interdisciplinary artist experienced in video, sound, animation, installation, eco-art interventions, textiles, and computer art. Painting is my true love and the foundation of my practice.
My work explores energy, transformation, and consciousness. I'm inspired by phenomena like neural pathways, the mother body, and improvisational music. With personal and ancestral history steeped in textile work, I like to think I'm painting the fabric of the universe.
I weave colors and forms together with a biomorphic, freestyle painting technique. I work with acrylic on canvas and paper, and I make animations to infuse the 2D work with hypnotic, mesmerizing energy. There is a playfulness in the work that evokes bubble-style graffiti writing, alongside a mystical quality that aligns it with the Transcendentalist movement.
I’m interested in illuminating and activating those little moments of enlightenment we all have - a memory of our interconnection, a release of emotional pain, a glimpse of awareness, or sudden feeling of wholeness.
CURRICULUM VITAE
Meghan Oona Clifford, M.F.A.
b. 1977, Madison WI
Lives and works in Santa Cruz County, CA, USA
www.meghanoonaclifford.com | meghan.oona.clifford@gmail.com
Education
2007 Master of Fine Arts, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA (New Genres)
2001 Bachelor of Arts, Evergreen State College, Olympia, WA (Interdisciplinary Arts)
1999 University of Wisconsin - Madison, WI (Humanities)
Exhibitions
2025 Nature Morte, 103 Gallery, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA
2025 The Cabinet of Secret Art, Carriage House Gallery, Oak Park, IL
2025 Gathering Spells in the Void, 3D Virtual Exhibit, (online), Women United Art Movement, (solo)
2025 Artist, Mother, Proud & Serious, (online), Women United Art Movement
2024 Art for All, Gallery of Hermosa (GOH), Hermosa Beach, CA
2024 genARTS Experimental Exhibition: Boundaries, New Museum Los Gatos (NUMU), CA
2024 In Flux, Museum of Northern California Art, Chico CA
2023 Aberrant Creativity, Texas A&M University, School of Performance, Visualization and Fine Arts, College Station, TX
2023 What Remains, (online), Visionary Art Collective, New York, NY
2023 Uncertain Certainties, (online), Thrive Together Network, Vancouver, Canada
2023 Representations: collaboration of womxn affecting the future of art and technology, (online), Atlanta, GA
2023 Kaleidoscope, (online), Arc Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2022 Shining Our Light: Cosmic Portraits, Flower Bar, Santa Cruz, CA, (solo)
2022 Seeds: The Fertile Void (online), Taking Up Space Global Initiative, Santa Cruz, CA, (solo)
2022 Onward, Body and Space, (online), San Francisco Artists Alumni, sfartistsalumni(.)com
2022 3rd Annual Powerful Little Things Exhibition, (online), Roaring Artist Gallery, roaringartistgallery(.)com)
2022 4th Annual Lines, Shapes & Objects, (online), Fusion Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2022 Let Me Tell You, Chris White Gallery, Wilmington, DE
2022 Verdant Heart, Fe Art Gallery, Sacramento, CA
2016 Star Dust: Moments of Enlightenment, Elevation 66, El Cerrito, CA, (solo)
2014 The Elevated Art of Meghan Oona Clifford, Elevation 66, El Cerrito, CA, (solo)
2012 Meghan Oona Clifford: The Illuminated Art of Flow, Black Faun Gallery, Eureka, CA, (solo)
2010 For Love of Spirit, Lipo Lounge, San Francisco, CA, (solo)
2010 Womb of Creation - An Exhibition of Women Visionaries, Tribe 13 Gallery, Ukiah, CA
2010 7th Annual Interdimensional Art Show, Madrone Studios, San Francisco, CA
2010 Suite Jesus, 111 Minna, San Francisco, CA
2009 Exit Strategy, Double Vision Dance Studio, San Francisco, CA
2009 Push On, Tribeca @ The Omni Hotel, Newport News, VA
2009 Art Now’s Circle of Life Show, 1:AM Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2009 moreTrees Eco-Fashion Runway Show, Club 6, San Francisco, CA
2009 Veni Vedi Vici, Club 6, San Francisco, CA
2007 MFA Vernissage, Fort Mason, San Francisco, CA
2006 Alternative Spaces, Swell Gallery, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA
2005 Tribe 13’s Interdimensional Art Show, 108 Gallery, Seattle, WA
2001 I Want Burning: Ecstatic Images and Poetry, The Family Tree, Olympia, WA
Grants and Awards
2024 Develop Grant, Arts Council Santa Cruz County, Santa Cruz, CA
2023 Quick Grant, (winter cycle), California’s Center for Cultural Innovation, San Francisco, CA
2023 Quick Grant, (spring cycle), California’s Center for Cultural Innovation, San Francisco, CA
2023 Special Mention, Create Magazine’s Fresh Paint Exhibition, Juried by Margaret Winslow, Curator, Delaware Art Museum
2022 Quick Grant, California’s Center for Cultural Innovation, San Francisco, CA
2005 Graduate Studies Grant, The San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA
Projects and Public Art
2024 Big Belly Receptacles, Walnut Creek, CA
2011 Eco-fashion booth installation, Outsidelands Music Festival, San Francisco, CA
2010 Yes, Please Draw Interactive Installation, For Love of Spirit, Lipo Lounge, San Francisco, CA
2010 Leaves No Trace, (eco-intervention), San Francisco, CA
2008 Which Way Is Home? An investigation of seeds, wind, and direction, (eco-intervention), San Francisco, CA
2009 moreTrees Eco-Fashion Runway Show, Club 6, San Francisco, CA
2008 Eco-fashion booth installation, Magic Tradeshow, Las Vegas, NV
2007 Cut: An Exploration of Relationships Broken, (eco-intervention), San Francisco, CA
2007 Missing! A Deforestation PSA, (eco-intervention), San Francisco, CA
2005 seedBomber Urban Gardening, (eco-intervention), San Francisco, CA
2000-03 Family Tree Art Collective Mural Project, Olympia, WA
Residencies
2023 Residency in Animation Tech, Thrive Together Virtual Art Residency
2023 Winter Virtual Art Residency, Thrive Together Network (TTN)
2022 Fall Virtual Art Residency, Thrive Together Network (TTN)
2022 Virtual Art Residency, Artist/Mother Network
Professional Organizations
Netvvrk VVrkshop
Thrive Together Network
Artist/Mother Network
Women United Art Movement
Selected Bibliography and Publications
2025 “Meghan Oona Clifford,” Studio Visit Magazine, volume 53, feature, Boston, MA
2024 Mona Lerch, “Meghan Oona Clifford,” Artist, Mother, Proud & Serious, volume II, art book feature, womenunitedartmovement(.)com, 182-189.
2024 SF Artists Alumni (SFAA), "IN FLUX: Recalibrating the Unknown," Issuu, digital exhibition catalog, March 20. 47.
2024 Mona Lerch, “Meghan Oona Clifford,” Women United Art Magazine, issue VI, art highlight and interview, womenunitedartmovement(.)com, 80-83.
2023 Arc Gallery and Studios, “Kaleidoscope,” Issuu, digital exhibition catalog, April 18. 14.
2023 Lena Snow, Goddess Art Magazine, issue 9, feature, goddessartsmag(.)com. 30.
2023 Procreate Project Archive, highlight, London, UK
2022 Content Magazine, exhibition highlight, San Jose, CA
2022 “Meghan Oona Clifford,” Carve Out Time for Art, community highlight, Baltimore, MD
2020 Pete Mason, "Find Inspiration with the Star Dust Coloring Book," PhanArt: Music, Art, and Community, feature, Albany, NY, Aug. 14
2016 "A Getaway to the Deeper Realms of the Soul - the Must-See Art Work of Meghan Oona," Meditation Talks, feature, Dec. 13
2013, 2017 We’Moon Calendar and Date Book, art highlight, Wolf Creek, OR
2013 "Path to Bliss," The Art People / People Project Magazine, feature, thepeopleproject(.)com
2011 Jon Zimmerman, "Modern Mystics Inspire," Surrender to the Flow Magazine, issue 29, feature, Los Angeles, CA. 48-49.
2008 "Art, Fashion, and Protest," MTV’s Street Team, interview, San Francisco, CA
Publications as Author
2024 Carve Out Time for Art, takeover. Jul 30
2020 Star Dust Adult Coloring Book: Creative art therapy for inspiration, healing, and relaxation, coloring book
2019 Reactivate Your Creative Power, e-book
2017 I Paint Visionary Art to Awaken Your Soul, Bored Panda, feature article
2014 All Praise: Seeing, To Become, photo book
2008 My eyes are your eyes, too: culture creation, modern mysticism, and beyond, art book
2007 Your Eyes Are My Eyes, photo book
Related Work and Teaching Experience
2022 Seeds: The Fertile Void Solo Show Artist Talk, (online)
2014 A Hundred Days of Art Project, Santa Cruz County, CA
2018-2022 The Creative Path Workshop, (online)
2019 You are Good Enough Workshop, (online)
2019 Activate Your Creativity - A Journey, (online)
2018 Rituals for Artists Workshop, (online)
2001-2010 moreTrees clothing company, founder and designer, Olympia, WA, San Diego, CA, Los Angeles and San Francisco, CA
2003-04 Sylvan Wisdom Cooperative Art Gallery, Olympia, WA, volunteer member
2000, 2003-04 Liberty Arising Retreat Center, San Diego, CA, volunteer
2000-02 The Family Tree Artist Collective, Olympia, WA, director and curator
1990-95 Madison Children’s Museum, Madison, WI, volunteer