We were lucky to catch up with Tia Sculpt recently and have shared our conversation below.
Tia, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
Many of my projects are extremely meaningful to me! Sometimes a series is approached with meaning in mind, and other times the work forms its own meaning overtime. With all my work a natural timeline is formed and looking back at work reminds me of where I was at the time of its creation and this wonderful timestamp is formed around the works. It is really helpful honestly! I can remember people, and place and mood and hopes all tied to these objects collecting ceramic dust in my studio haha!!! And then theres this layer of- now I have to prove if I still care about these works the way I dust them off or store them or hang them up. I feel a wave of fortune having the objects of mine in my own studio, at my families and friends, and up in strangers houses!
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 Tia Sculpt, mostly know for my ceramic sculptural work these days in Western North Carolina; however I am also from Aurora IL, about an hour outside of Chicago IL, where I was previously heavily involved in the DIY music and art scene in and around the Chicago suburbs.
My focus on art really steamed from really great high school programs centered on ceramic/sculptural art, and floral/horticulture courses. It was a really unique and lucky thing to have these classes offered along with really great teachers. In my senior year of high school most my schedule was stacked up with these courses and I learned so much during that year. I went onto community college but dropped out of two different schools because the programs just did not fit my outlook and I did not feel I was thriving. This is when I got really focused on the DIY music scene in my area. I moved in with my partner and we opened up our home and did basement music shows and living room art shows with friends. Our whole kitchen and basement was graffiti! I was working my butt off at a greenhouse and in community college at the start of our DIY house and with all the sun at work and greenhouse courses I quite literally got burnt out…one night at our house an occurrence at a show lead to me quitting the greenhouse and starting a job as a florist. My boss became a quick friend and one day just offered me her old ceramic kiln and wheel! I felt like i got hit with a stroke of HUGE fortune- just went on over to her place and picked up this amazing equipment and around 200 pounds of clay she was getting rid of for free. Then fast forward to some time later- we all got hit with the pandemic-I had to move due to some other circumstances and ended up all the way over here in WNC, with a lot of time on my hands due to covid and made a LOT of art. With a couple more fast forwards-here I am now creating art, working at a couple galleries, doing some floral work on the side, and all along heavily inspired by the people, landscapes and life events I got swirling around. All my work is influenced by my life and surroundings and vice versa.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Well last year my area of WNC was hit by hurricane Helene. The one year anniversary was just this past week as I type this! This total whirlwind of an unexpected event left many of us local artist with destroyed work, galleries, and changes in our art supplies.
In my personal life just a few months before I also unexpectedly lost my father as well.
A double whammy of grief, sadness, obstacles….I just pushed my butt right through it. My work was like a steady boat in a sea of wave after wave. I made work related to the events to put the grief somewhere, but also to time capsule desired feelings like calmness, happiness, humor and more. I found new clay supplies, and ended up finding a lot of beauty and strength from new connections. The past year and a half has been, by far, the most difficult times of my life so far but all these changes and new perspective has brought positive influence on my creative work.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?
Without my work as a steady guidance of balance in my life I do not think I would be able to be healthy and happy. When my focus on art started in high school- arts were the only subjects I did well in! School was difficult, and defeating. Everyone has varying strong suits and they should be celebrated, not graded or paid. We live in a society that often stamps out creatives because theres no money or understood skill involved. Artist have to put their desires on hold to pay the rent or get some food, or support family. The creative life is really really hard. Critics are everywhere, sometimes cleverness in art is overlooked. Its rough-when you see a creative you like throw them some love! If you see a creative you don’t understand, try and learn from them.
Supporting artist doesn’t always need to be cold hard cash- kind warm words, walking into community spaces like galleries or little shops that host art, a slight nod of your head at that person playing music on the street are all still supportive. A little goes a long way for a creative, we are often working harder than one might think.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://tiasculpt.com
- Instagram: @tia_sculpt
- Facebook: Tia Sculpt
- Other: all music projects, videos, and more linked via linktree here-
https://linktr.ee/tiasculpt
Image Credits
the first 5 images by Byron Collins
the 3 others by Shaylynn Shumway