We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Tlalli Calderon. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Tlalli below.
Tlalli, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
The story behind my mission is Art. I learned that my love for art came in many forms. I create art with hopes to reach every human being on this earth and impact them in a positive way by making pieces that express human struggles; mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. I like to make art because it shows our most vulnerable parts. Our souls can sync and for a second the world and our pain makes sense. I believe that art is our soul’s expression and love to the universe. I am passionate about helping and advocating for people.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I am a Latina artist. My name is Tlalli that translates to earth in Nahuatl. I come from Mexican immigrant parents who worked super hard to be able to provide for me and my siblings, I grew up in a creative household filled with drawing, dance and music. The first moment I fell in love with Art was like the first time the sea met the sky, the sea-a reflection of how the sky felt and us humans could see God’s. My eyes a mirror to my soul and my palm a guide for my pains. As I grew up I started to show signs of Depression and Anxiety which made my daily life unmanageable. I can say that being able to draw and express myself creatively was a relief to the consistent pain my mind and body were in. I definitely got more confident with my art when I was in my last year of high school. My Art teacher as well as my English teacher gave me more insight into being confident when it comes to artist expression. I had to grow to trust and believe in myself and my art. In 2019 I left an abusive relationship where I experienced SA and DV for 3 years. I sought help from a non-profit organization called The Blue Bench. After taking therapy and being diagnosed with PTSD my therapist told me about a SA survivor exhibition that The Blue Bench was doing and that I should submit. I was so nervous but I remember the first moment I opened an acceptance letter for my piece to be apart of the showing, I was filled with joy and happiness. I continued to participate and I was able to meet Dea the owner of M&D artistries where she offered me an opportunity to be a main artist at her gallery. I know my proudest moment as an artist was looking at my piece on a wall of a gallery and seeing how many people loved it. How my art made such deep connections and started conversations. My happiest moment is looking back now and celebrating all my wins as an artist small and big. What sets me apart from other artists is an acknowledgement that every artist is one of a kind. My art is definitely in its own style. My talents can be expanded and are unique- I love to learn and dive into unknown Artistic areas. The main thing I would love people to know is that my art will always go where ever my artist self wants to go, my art is meant to be everchanging. Art isn’t meant to be selective, art isn’t meant to be beautiful nor appealing. Art isn’t meant to be understood, art is simply Art. I am an Artist.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
A lesson I had to unlearn was limiting beliefs. I used to think that I had to have a lot of pieces in order to consider myself “A Professional Artist” I’m still wondering what the term “a professional artist” means because I still don’t know to this day. The reason why I had to change those beliefs were because it was limiting, it’s like when someone says “oh- you do art? but are you like a real artist?” The belief that there was a difference between being an artist and being a professional artist makes it harder on yourself to feel and learn what you love to do if you keep trying to structure everything you create into a mold that was simply created to hold you back. I struggled a lot because of old habits like those and I feel that they simply hurt more then helped. My advise would be to reframe the belief and inspire yourself.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
In 2019 as I left an abusive relationship of 3 years I found myself very lost in who I was and what I was made for. My life has had its hardest and darkest moments so when I was diagnosed with PTSD I came to understand myself more, it felt like I had to relearn everything. Nobody can truly prepare you for life’s hardest hits-but seeing how I came from running away and thinking that I would die at the hands of my perpetrator, to seeing how strong I stand my ground now and how I no longer fear them shows how far I’ve come. I am able to express my story and help other survivors with my art. My and other survivor resilience shows every single day by still being here and healing, though it might not seem like a big step from the start it definitely is a step closer then yesterday.
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Tlalli