We were lucky to catch up with Tania LaCaria recently and have shared our conversation below.
Tania, appreciate you joining us today. Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?
While I have an arts background and graduated from York University with a BA in Fine Arts and minor in Art History, I had no idea what to do with an arts degree! I decided to go back to school to study Interior Design and happened to graduate from Sheridan College during a recession. The prestigious firm I did my apprenticeship at asked me to stay on the team, but only as a volunteer – which wasn’t feasible for me…working there was actually costing me money in commuting and I knew my role could be easily replaced by another eager design grad, so I took the opportunity to put my design career on hold and travel the world for a year.
What was supposed to be one year abroad somehow morphed into a decade – I spent an extended time in mostly Central America, South America and South East Asia. I was working remotely at the time for a company in Canada but was also running my own design consulting firm while on the road. I dabbled in some online projects and did whatever I could to keep my nomadic lifestyle going – traveling the world was a wild ride! I have been to 43 countries and taught myself Spanish. I have friends all over the world and can share great travel stories about hiking through the High Atlas Mountains, temple-hopping through Cambodia, wine tasting through Argentina, penguin watching in Chile and road tripping through South Africa on motorcycle – I was living the traveler’s dream and did it all out of a backpack and a few suitcases, thankful that my parents back home kept my book collection safe for 10 years.
I would flex my creative muscles as opportunities arose on various projects – like completing the odd painting commission for my design clients, or spend my spare time sketching the landscapes and buildings of the cities I was visiting. I have always been creative, and have even lived a creative lifestyle, but I never would’ve called myself an “artist” back then.
My fine arts background informed a lot of my design work and I used any excuse to travel to art museums and galleries whenever possible, but in 2016, I moved back to Canada to open a hospitality business, and that’s when my creative expression was slowly smothered to death. The responsibilities of the business fell to me, while my business partner (and husband at the time) enjoyed the majority of the creative, fun aspects the business had to offer. I did my best to maintain a balance between “work” and my passion for art and design, but I was having a hard time flexing my creative muscles while being burned out from working so hard on a business that physically and emotionally depleted me.
The plus side to that business venture is that I was lucky to be able to throw myself into community-building in that job, and I did come to love the people on my team and my customers – many of whom are still friends to this day! But the glimmers of excitement in that work dwindled daily, and the work became less about me exercising any shred of creativity or passion, and more about book-keeping, product ordering and managing staff and a cafe – I had abandoned my creative side entirely until I had the opportunity to walk away from that business.
After a messy divorce and emancipation from the business that I was proud of having started but had come to resent, I immediately decided I would start over by living the life I had always dreamed of – the life of an artist, on my own terms.
In 2021, by the time I returned to my roots as an artist and painter, I had taken a 16 year hiatus from the art world. That being said, I’ve gained such incredible traction in the last couple of years, and I often wonder where I could’ve been in my art career today if I had decided to pursue art full-time after graduating from art school the first time – but how can I possibly imagine a life for myself that unfolded any differently than it did? I am the artist I am today because of the person I am today, and that is entirely attributed to the many experiences I have had in traveling, entrepreneurship and my relationships that led me to this point.
I’m excited to imagine where my creative career will take me – who knows what will come next! I can confidently say I have always been creative and worked in a creative capacity in some way or another, but I had always hoped I could be a practicing painter when I retire, and the last few years taught me that nothing is guaranteed, retirement is not guaranteed. I took a chance on myself when I decided to start over and start living the life I have always dreamed of having “one day”. Somehow, even though it took 16 years to get to this point, I am living my dream life NOW. Starting now is still better than starting in 20 years from now – so somehow, I feel like I’m ahead of the game, even if I am behind.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My name is Tania LaCaria, I’m an Italian-Canadan visual artist focused on story-telling through abstract painting and occasionally abstract sculpture. My mission in life is to form meaningful connections with others, and I am so grateful that I get to do this through my art.
My work allows me to explore the concept of paradox (the idea that two opposing realities exist at the same time) through themes based on gender, body politics, women’s issues, relationships and social structure/class division. My work presents as very playful and vibrant thanks to the expressive use of colour and gesture, but is actually quite introspective and vulnerable because my paintings are about me, my life, and how I relate to others.
My art is almost always accompanied by a narrative – the painting description can sometimes take on the form of poetry for me, and the written words are meant to be experienced in tandem with the presentation of my work. As a conceptual abstract artist, I have enjoyed experimenting with creating a visual language that is unique to my work, and while I’m still trying to identify exactly what makes my work look “like mine”, I often hear feedback that new works (that feel fresh and unique to me) are still identifiable as being my work. That makes me so happy to hear because it means the visual language I’ve been developing – a series of symbols, gestures, brushstrokes and color palettes – is being communicated consistently to the viewer.
In some of my earlier work, I used the color black to represent myself in my paintings. I would use black ink or paint to make the first markings on the canvas – because black is the highest contrasting, boldest gesture that could be made, a reminder to myself to show up unapologetically in my life and in my work, even if it feels shocking or jarring at first. And while I continue to put play at the forefront of my art practice by using unexpected tools like broom heads, old clothing, tooth brushes, credit cards, tree branches and carpet underpadding, I have stepped back from using the color black so prominently in my more recent collections. My current work has departed slightly from being as self-focused and instead is more collective-focused on the experiences women, in general, have had over the last century.
My work has been described as performative, mostly because of the process I use to build collections. I spend a lot of time documenting my creative process so I can keep a record of it, but I also share the painting process openly on my social channels. Sometimes this can appear performance-based, but the performative nature is more tied to the conceptual way in which I make connections between the message and the physical creation of a piece. For example, one of my 2023 collections, Pieces of the Whole, focuses on how women’s stories are often censored to benefit the listener. To feel a deeper connection to exploring the concept of censorship and how it makes me feel, I decided to create a series of smaller works that resulted from cropping larger canvases. The performative element of cropping the paintings was an exercise in editing and censorship and reinforced the importance of surrender and vulnerability to me as an artist. Certain parts of the painting that were unfavourable were included because of the limitations of cropping, while other parts I liked were omitted. The result of this exercise is a collection of smaller, fragmented paintings where the imagery and color wraps around the edge of the frame – a departure from the usual large format work I create that tends to be centre-focused with more negative space around the painting edges.
Trying new ways to communicate what it feels like to be a woman in society these days has been liberating, exciting, and also incredibly frustrating – but as an artist who thrives on trying new things and experimenting with how I express myself, this kind of collection was exactly what I needed to create at the time. Luckily for me, it was very well-received and more than half the works sold out immediately upon me releasing it privately through my website.
I want people who follow me and my work to know that I create my art because I have to, not because I need anyone to like it. I have imagined creating paintings that could be considered more decorative, and technically more accessible to mainstream buyers, but that type of work hasn’t brought me joy. My art is not pretty. It can be quite aggressive, loud, even obnoxious at times, and contradictory, but it is a reflection of me and what I need to express at the time of creation. I believe art that was born from a genuine place of exploration and expression may not be pretty, but it can be beautiful if it’s born out of authenticity. I’m more excited about creating art that prompts questions in myself as the artist and of the viewer, instead of art that simply looks nice.
If I could choose what others celebrate about me as an artist, I’d want to be recognized for my willingness to be vulnerable, open, and true to my need for expression, even when the visual outcome isn’t conventionally pretty. I have noticed that when I’ve given myself permission to show up unapologetically as myself through my art without concern that I am “too much” or “not enough” for others, I have unintentionally given others permission to show up as themselves, too. There’s a magnetism that results from being true to yourself, and I am so grateful to be attracting buyers, collectors and other creatives who resonate with my work – I know these are my people, because they see parts of themselves in me and my work.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
To support artists and creatives, society can do a few things. The most obvious is to offer direct financial support to living artists by purchasing original art or services that keep real people employed in their creative field. And if that’s not always possible for all members of society to do, then there’s also a need to keep substantial public funding available for the arts. Without funding, most artists cannot create their work unless they’re independently wealthy. Publicly funded grants for art initiatives are usually the first to be cut in municipal and federal budget re-evaluations, and while people think this means the artists and creatives suffer, the entire collective actually suffers as well.
To imagine a world where there’s no music, dance, film, visual arts, fashion…is a sad world that I don’t want to be a part of. I’ve had extensive conversations in my own city about the importance of publicly funded arts and how the return on investment on art funding is immeasurable.
Whether you live in a city or you’re visiting as a tourist, the memories you’ll keep will be based on the experiences you have, and it’s not possible to measure the monetary value of an experience because there’s nothing tangible to weigh. I’m currently living in Hamilton, Ontario, a city that is known for its music scene and live performances – the energy you feel from being in the crowd at a concert is intoxicating, it’s a feeling that lasts, there’s a memory that has been formed from the sensory experience that resulted from an art-based event. We had a glimpse of what the world could be like without the arts during the pandemic and it was an isolating, lonely, uninspired version of life that didn’t appeal to anyone. The arts – led by the artists and creatives in a community – provide a necessary levity to every day life.
Attending an art festival, gallery opening or film screening can be a form of escapism from the daily grind, but it can also be invigorating – the inspiration, the thought-provocation, the conversation that results from the experience makes for a memorable time and is the reason that art-focused cities are some of the most celebrated cities in the world. Like New York. Yes, there’s a beautiful culinary scene, but the city attracts all kinds of people because it’s sure to inspire, to awe, to dazzle. If you took the arts and culture out of New York, for the sake of argument, there’d be some nice parks and stunning architecture and great pizza, but the entire energy and vibe of the city as we know it would shift. It would be like any other city (except with better pizza). The level of support artists and creatives have in a city directly correlates to a city’s charm and character.
If supporting artists directly through purchasing goods and services is not an option, then at least supporting the initiatives that help artists continue to create and share their work is the next best thing. Social media has provided incredible opportunities for artists to gain exposure to larger audiences. Sharing, following and engaging with creatives on social media will help keep a creative ecosystem thriving – the powers that be behind the social media algorithms will favor whatever is being widely shared and celebrated…so find some artists whose work speaks to you and engage with them, follow along, and be a part of their successful creative journey just by acknowledging that they exist.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
My social media presence has come a long way in a short period of time, and while I’m still growing, I’m happy to be doing so organically and patiently. I am proud that I have very high engagement on my instagram account, all my followers are there because they’ve chosen to be and I do my best to engage with anyone who is willing to have a conversation.
Maintaining a social media presence is a full time job outside of the full time job of being an artist. I’ve found that being authentic and genuine about who I am and my art practice has brought me like-minded followers. And I have also noticed that sharing and posting consistently is extremely helpful in growing my audience. This can be challenging because posting daily is time consuming, but with a little bit of premeditation on what to share in advance, the payoff has been worth it.
Like anyone else, I have been met with criticism on my social media before. Apparently, people have a preconceived notion of how I should show up on my own social platform as an artist – I have heard it all: smile more, smile less, be more serious, have more fun, share more personal information, be more professional. All of the feedback is contradictory! I took it upon myself to show up on my instagram in a way that feels authentic and true to me, and that can change over certain periods of time and seasons. Sometimes the body of work I’m creating is joyful and exciting, like the Pieces of the Whole collection, and my reels and posts reflected that. I smile a lot, I’m a happy person, and I’m not afraid to share that. Other times, I’m working on a series that is heavy, born out of frustration and angst, like Enough Is Enough, and my posts were more emotionally-charged at that time.
I have decided that I get to show up and share whatever feels right in the moment, as long as it feels like a genuine expression of who I am and aligns with my work at the time. The key is consistency, but when it comes to being strategic about branding, I am just showing up as me. Take it or leave it.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.TaniaLaCariaStudio.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tanialacaria/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tania.lacaria
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tanialacaria/
- Other: Threads: https://www.threads.net/@tanialacaria
Image Credits
Rae Connell