Liberation, Celebration & Defiance: Tiffany Conway-Sea Stars

"Sea Stars" by Tiffany Conway

24x36", Mixed Media 

“Sea Stars” is very much a play on words. As I was beginning to learn about the traditions and practices of West African culture, I met a new friend who called me sister (pronounced ‘SEE-Ster’). I heard it as the name I called the painting which is a nod to Yemoja and Yoruba culture.

Artist Statement

 Art has provided me with the tools to communicate in a way that was not able to do before. And for that, I am forever grateful for the practice. Art allows me to retreat, restore, and express all that I have learned from moving through the world as an African American woman. Art connects me to the energy that lives within myself that I’m not always able to see.

 I focus a lot on the transmutation to grief and beauty. And creating a dialog with myself through painting. I have an interest in skin tone and all that we carry underneath the top layer, which is why my art is so textural. I have an interest in using color as a language for emotions and perspectives and the body as a vehicle. Even though my work displays the beauty of others, what lies behind that initial layer are parts of my personal evolution.

 I believe that it is important to unmask the myth of what strong should be. My overall vision is to create art that empowers vulnerability, as I believe that this is the ultimate superpower. When creating, I try to portray “softness” through my technique with skin tone in the attempt to portray my community, with humanity. When looking at my work I would like my audience to also see themselves with beauty, without hard lines, multidimensional, and navigating the world from the inside out.