We had the good fortune of connecting with Tatiana Thomas and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Tatiana, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
Risk taking can easily be one of the scariest parts of life. It’s built on fear of the unknown. How we react to it or plan for it determines how we survive it. For me, it’s a bit of both – reacting and planning. Controlling and being controlled. Life doesn’t exist without risk, so I try to expect the unexpected as much as possible.
As an artist, risk has a front seat to my life and my career. It’s incredibly risky being a creative. I color outside the lines and I create paths often where none exist. My entire existence as an artist challenges the boundaries set for what society considers normal. When I was a kid, I would draw on every surface that I could find – paper, book covers, walls (my mom didn’t like that too much). I kept my creativity a secret for fear of the risk that it wouldn’t be received well. I explored art class, but I didn’t like the rules and constraints my teachers had on my creativity. Eventually, I wanted more risks, and I broke down many walls to find them. In 2016, I decided to share my paintings with the world. A world that didn’t know me and likely didn’t care about me either. And there began my journey.
Risk taking continuously shifts my artistic journey. I’ve curated shows, painted portraits, and I currently paint murals for businesses, homes, and public spaces. So, risk is a part of life that I welcome as much as I welcome fear. It excites me and it challenges me to prove doubt wrong.
Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am a multidisciplinary portrait and mural artist. I discovered my love for art early in life. Through painting, drawing, and sculpting, I explored my artistry from high school into college. I was encouraged to follow my dreams to New York where my professional career in New York’s fashion industry led me to pursue an artistic career that offered opportunities from Miami Art Basel to curating my first art show at sk.Artspace in 2019 (“La Femme”).
Every journey has its challenges and I had to create a life that worked for me. I wanted to tell my story with my art and give way to inspiration and interpretation. Throughout the creation of my bodies of work, I have found inspiration in experiences both told and untold, especially in my family’s rich history as a black woman from rural North Carolina (Wilmington). I’ve painted portraits of women who came to me in my imagination and the remnants of women from my past. It’s always been challenging to paint and to do so in a timeframe that isn’t stalled. But often our paths change, and the difficulty comes in letting go of what you once knew to be true. For me that was the basis of my shift to exploring a canvas on a grander scale.
My evolution into murals has brought me so much freedom and light. It has allowed me to blend realism and abstract skills to continually discover artistic expression. My use of color, lines, and texture utilizes light and rejuvenation to tell stories that explore the depths of movement and composition. The excitement that I have when I paint has taught me to believe in myself – even when no one is there to encourage you. I create art for myself, and I hope the results of my work is that people smile more and start conversations with strangers about my pieces. I want my art to outlive me and one day sit in spaces that I couldn’t have imagined in my wildest dreams. My brand is me and I hope I can take you along this journey with me.
Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’m fortunate to have had a community of amazing women in my life growing up. My grandmothers, great grandmothers, and even my great-great grandmother has shaped me into to the woman that I am today. But even those women shaped my mother – who, without a doubt, has been a major force in my life. She has encouraged me to live out every seemingly irrational dream I’ve ever dreamt. I remember watching her when I was a kid and I told myself that I wanted to be as strong as her one day. Throughout this journey of life, I’ve gained lifelong friendships from my sorority (Delta Sigma Theta) to my collaborations in Brooklyn with sk.Artspace. My career is the result of the relationships I’ve been fortunate to have with these beautiful people and the experiences that I have had the privilege of creating with them as well. For that, I am grateful.
Website: www.tatianacamice.com
Instagram: @tatianacamice
Facebook: /tatianacamice
Image Credits
all photos in orange shirt credit: Najah Cobb, NC (www.3rdiphotography.com) photos with yellow scarf credit: Lena Di, NYC (@lenadi on IG)