Tara McPherson is an American contemporary artist and illustrator based in New York, working across painting, murals, poster art, and designer toys. Born in San Francisco and raised in Los Angeles, she earned a BFA in illustration with a fine art minor from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. Her work centers on powerful female archetypes drawn from mythology, astrophysics, nature, and music, and has appeared as music posters for artists including Beck, the Pixies, and Metallica, as well as designer toys with Kidrobot and comic covers for DC Vertigo. She co-founded the Cotton Candy Machine gallery and art boutique in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, which operated from 2011 to 2016, and has taught illustration at Parsons School of Design. Her work is held in the permanent collection of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.