My work is a mirror of my inner thoughts. A mere image of what goes on inside my brain. I don’t think of my work as art, but as something that simply takes up space. My thoughts consume my mind and my work fills up a space. What was once empty air is now embedded with a piece of me. My subconscious however does not belong to me, it belongs to everything I observe throughout life. So it is unfair to say that my work is completely mine. My art is my environment.
I plan to use mixed media to create my work. I now use many different materials; some would say my work is very different from one another. I believe this is because of my indecisiveness, but also due to my curiosity into trying new materials. Material for me, allows for the viewer to ask questions. I want the viewers to question my work, because their questioning allows for me to dig deeper into my thoughts.
Color plays a colossal role in my art as well. It elevates my work, and makes it more friendly. For example, I usually have a serious subject matter, but my colors provide the opposite effect. I like to play on the minds of the viewers. Oftentimes people look at art for face value, and that is fine with me, but those who are curious to know, could ask. I use vibrant and pastel colors because I love the way they look. That may sound facetious and shallow but in my opinion art should please my eyes.
There is something to say about art that is beautiful and art that is ugly because we will never know the truth. We will just have the explanation of why it belongs, or not. I do not think that all of my pieces must have meaning–at least meaning that I can explain–but should withhold a specific style to what we are feeling at that moment. My mind is ever thinking, and ever changing, so can I possibly understand why I want to create one thing at one moment, if I am creating it at the next. The concept of past, present, and future will also hold a big motif throughout my work. If I am unable to create one static explanation then at least I can create a theme umbrella.
Past, present, and future, there is so much to explore. We can explore other people’s explorations throughout history, but through art we can find our own. Just the act of creating allows me to flow with ideas. So the actual process of my work will also be an ongoing motif. I plan on sewing fabric, not necessarily together, but to use the stitch as a mark, just like Pollock used his splatters as marks. Just like the surrealist who used the technique of decalcomania as a way of not trying to control their media. The imagery should appear by chance therefore allowing me to interpret it afterwards. I truly believe that my subconscious would be aware at this point in the sewing process. Another section of my work would be taking my photographs and printing them onto fabric that would then be sewn onto a larger piece. The photograph will be printed using cyanotype which will radiate this beautiful blue color. In this instance color will be used in function and in beauty. My use of the sewing machine is both a nod to feminism and the act of craft in relation to art. And to a past skill/trade that my grandfather used to hold for generations in his family.
1. Taliah Lati, Totem Mug , 2020, (Mixed media), 10.5” x 7” x 3.5”
2. Taliah Lati, Untitled , 2020, (Oil on canvas), 30” x 40”
3. Taliah Lati, Can’t Fit In , 2020, (Oil on canvas), 38” x 48”
4. Taliah Lati, Untitled , 2020, (Oil on canvas), 22” x 30”
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