We recently connected with Tafy LaPlanche and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Tafy thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
As a Haitian woman, voodoo was always associated with me. I’ve never practiced it nor knew much about it. Only what I’ve seen from media depictions and what others have said about it. Dark magic, curses, the other side. Anytime I would do something that was deemed successful, I would hear comments such as “that’s that voodoo magic you do”.
It got me curious as to whom I would conjure up if I were to practice it. Skeletons and skulls always drew my attention and I wanted to find out the symbolism of skulls within voodoo. Through some research, I discovered that skulls, specifically white skulls, symbolized healing. How facing your troubles and unity helps you move past the bad and move on to the good. I wanted to reflect on that beautiful side of voodoo that is rarely talked about.
The healing dance is the principal ritual of voodoo. The ceremony is aimed at giving spiritual and physical health to suffering people. Illness is seen as the evil influence of spirits of death. While the dance progresses, it becomes more and more intense until the healers/dancers go into a state of deep concentration, and then they are able to cure people. The dancer has an object, the “n/um” in its stomach. This “n/um” travels across the spine until it reaches the skull. There it stops and explodes in the brain. This explosion is the sign of rebirth and the reason why the skull is the symbol of a new life oriented toward the right way according to the good spirits of the ancestors.
The works I created for this series are different stages of the dance. N/um is symbolized by the flowers. The sketched-out skeletons are the areas it travels. N/um translates to medicine or supernatural potent energy. The final work in the series has to figure reveal his face. Looking back at the viewer and reflecting before moving on to a better part of their life.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
I am an Afro-Latina portrait artist based in NYC and Savannah, Georgia. I paint unique and vibrant portraits for unique and vibrant people!
At the age of thirteen, I was diagnosed with type one diabetes. I was considered to be one of the older patients and did not have priority over the Nintendo 64. I was given paper and a pen instead. My days at the hospital were filled with drawing people as they passed by my room. This prompted my mother to put me in an art school. However, I was placed in a school where they only spoke Mandarin! There I learned to draw portraits and paint landscapes. Despite the language barrier, I realized how art in itself was a universal language.
As someone of Haitian descent, there was interest in my art skills and possibly becoming a Haitian painter. The pressure to be someone slowly made me dislike painting landscapes despite my skills in it. During pre-college I went abroad to Tuscany for a change of scenery. It was here when I had my canvas and paints out, overlooking a stunning landscape, when the sound of buzzing surrounded me. Moments later I realized I got stung by a bee because I couldn’t see out of one eye. I WAS ALLERGIC! My eyelid had blown up.
An old Italian woman came to the hill where I was and offered me to come to her home to remedy the bee sting by placing an onion over my eye. Naive and hopeful I followed. As I watched the woman interact with her family and go about her daily tasks, I realized there and then my passion for telling people’s stories through portraiture. From creating portraits I could communicate an entire story about someone without having to say a word. And to connect despite where we may come from.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
The stories of people. Those who don’t often get heard. Or those who believe they have nothing to say. People’s experiences are what drive us. It evokes emotion and I believe with portraiture there is an allowance for viewers to have those emotions. When creating my portraits I always try my best to get to know the person behind them. To honor who they are on the inside and not only capture their outer appearance.
I believe that the energy and the connection that derives from that interaction helps transfer to my work and that to the viewer. My goal is to keep those stories going and to bring light to them. To help people realize that it’s ok to be uniquely themselves. And to also bring access to these stories of others.
Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
Other artists. I know it seems so simple. But, early on in my journey I was focused on getting into places versus how to get in those spaces. It took me quite a while to realize that other artists were going to be my best resource. A trusted network or community of like-minded people with shared goals. I have learned and applied so many things to my own creative process and art business by just asking how others got to where they where. I would seek out those who were where I wanted to be and genuinely be invested in thier story. The openess to learn and take what works for you as an individual. Applying to be in art directories and collectives that alligned with who I am as an artist was really a huge step and helpful resource to get me to where I am today.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.lepouf-art.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lepouf_art/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lepoufart
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tafy-laplanche/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/lepouf_art
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWNHNX2a3K2XiiHlv_KXmcQ
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/le-pouf-art-savannah?osq=le+pouf+art
Image Credits
Kristen Lengel