The Art of Storytelling
The Magician by Tiffanie Delune
This week we’re celebrating Tiffanie Delune’s birthday with an exclusive interview! 🎊 The rising star speaks about femininity, spirituality and the magic of abstraction. Scroll down for more ✨
Addy: Tiffanie, thank you so much for joining me! What is your earliest memory of drawing?
Tiffanie: I actually started drawing when I was very, very young. I never took any classes because I actually grew up seeing my dad drawing. My dad does technical drawings of things like cars, and he also draws bodies, but he has never made a full practice of it. Growing up, he was always drawing on a piece of paper. My siblings and I, we all naturally know how to draw, but I'm probably the one that took it more seriously.
From around the age of five, I was already drawing, colouring and sketching. It developed further with time, it was always something very natural for me. If you asked me to go to my bedroom, that’s what I would be doing.
Back then I had a library card, and I would go to the library on a Wednesday and pick up all the books to learn more about how to draw and sketch and DIY. Even in art class at school, we had all kinds of activities that involved using our hands. It was always very natural for me. I never had any formal training outside of that.
Addy: Wow, it's amazing that you're completely self-taught. Do you feel like you've always just been a very creative person, even beyond fine art? Have you always been very into music and poetry and things like that?
Tiffanie: Yes, definitely. I was always an artistic person and it's one of the reasons why I only came to this kind of art when I was 29. Being creative, you just go right and left all the time. For a long time, I was thinking about being a fashion designer or a fashion stylist. At 16, I came to realise how difficult and inaccessible it is to become a designer. I self-selected and thought more about doing something else.
For a while, I worked in advertising as a project manager. Even though advertising is centred around marketing and selling, it still has elements of creativity and you get to work with creatives. In a way, that was my entry point. On the side, I've became interested in photography and painting. I learned to design things and I was constantly searching for my craft and waiting for this “aha” moment.
(laughter)
The Bees by Tiffanie Delune
Finally, when I was 29, I started painting again, this time I did it more seriously. I have no idea why things were different this time around, I just knew it was what I wanted to do.
It was very clear from the start that I was enjoying working with my hands, I was enjoying the skills and the possibilities. I was enjoying not being behind a computer, and really working with natural pigments and materials, feeling and touching, and being crafty. It just felt right.
Addy: I love that! Did your interest in textiles stem from fashion?
Tiffanie: I think not necessarily just fashion, I'm naturally someone who is attracted to different things. Fashion is one of them, but I am also interested in textile as a broader subject. Textile can also include rugs and curtains and anything for the home. It can be the modern and contemporary, but it can also be the more traditional craft. I look at African textiles, I look at Middle Eastern ones as well. I'm interested in indigenous practices and what you can also see in Asia and Mexico, that non-Western narrative.
I always think that there's a lot of poetry and a lot of emotion involved. There are a lot of ways to approach the symbols, the shapes, the forms and colours in this practice. It captured my attention from a very young age. Maybe that's an influence of having grown up in Paris and having access to certain museums. It just always touched me, even more than painting.
All the other materials, I think come from a sense of playfulness that I'm attracted to, that's always what I'm looking for. I always remind myself to be authentic and have fun. For example, I think paper is a very playful material. Paper is like being a kid in a way. Whilst sewing has a lot of history and feels like stitching ideas together. I'm interested in the material, but also the memory, and the emotions that can flow from one material to another when you associate them quite unexpectedly.
I always say I'm a multifaceted person. Working in mixed media for me is just the best way to show this instead of trying to fit into a box that I find makes me small.
(laughter)
Addy: Yes, definitely. That’s beautiful. I love that your works are deeply rooted in ideas of identity and culture, and exploring non-Western cultures, which have been underrepresented within the art historical canon for a long time.
Your work is currently part of the ARTNOIR benefit auction. What does that mean to you? I know that ARTNOIR celebrates different artists and tries to bring new perspectives to the rest of the art world, and your work is amongst many other emerging artists.
Seven Layers of Skin by Tiffanie Delune
Tiffanie: Well, first of all, to be noticed by any influential curator in the US is a big privilege, especially as I live Europe. To be noticed by Larry Ossei-Mensah is always something important.
As someone that discouraged themselves when it came to pursuing fashion, because I thought I didn't have the funds or the self-confidence, or anyone to help me navigate the industry, for me, this feels very special.
Obviously for artists of colour, it’s been proven that it's harder for us to succeed because of our background. It's more difficult to get into the art world and to actually stay, which is another subject.
With ARTNOIR, in a way, you're stepping into yourself, and into your light. That will influence other people. If you can influence just one person through your action, your example, and your words, that's amazing.
In this case, raising funds is even better because it’s concrete help. Something palpable. For me, to help people, especially younger people, is so important, because it's something that I wish I’d had. I know that back then, it was very limited, if not nothing at all. (laughs) It's all very new.
Addy: Of course. Are you happy that you started your art journey a bit later? Do you feel like you gathered more experience from working beforehand and doing different things like travelling?
Tiffanie: Yes, absolutely. I have no regrets when it comes to that because personally, to have had almost a decades worth of experience working, in my case in advertising, it's a skill set that just serves you for so many things after, even in the arts. You know more about the business side of things. It can be anything, from your finances to your clients. It can also be how to approach your social media, I would have never been able to do that when I was 20.
I'm much more driven, much more clear. I am much more authentic and honest with myself about what I want to do and what I don’t want to do. For example, I think when you're 20, it's very difficult to say no. It can also be difficult to understand what you want exactly. You tend to go right and left most of the time, because that’s what your 20s are for, experiences. I think the beauty of your 30s, especially your early 30s, is that you develop so much clarity about who you are as a person.
Work experience, no matter where, always teaches you something, which you can probably apply later in your career. Now I am very clear about my practice and my visual language, and how I want to do things. I understand the amount of focus I have, and how far I can push myself, something I definitely didn't have when I was 20.
That being said, I think we're all very different. Some people love to experience things early, and if they have the capacity and the ability, it's wonderful. For me, I like that I came to it a bit later.
Addy: Definitely. Words of wisdom! Okay, so your works explore many themes. Your early works focus more on heritage, whilst your recent works explore femininity and spirituality. How would you describe your creative process?
Tiffanie: I always start from the self and a sense of inner life. That inner life can relate to what’s happening in my personal life, or it can also be centred around a more subconscious dream world. Some subjects are more concrete, and some are more surrealist.
I approach my work as visual storytelling, unfolding the story bit by bit. Of course, as you mentioned, I started with childhood trauma and family history, because I felt that first, I needed to go back and I needed to understand that part of me. It was a little bit like therapy and self-work in a way.
Then, when that part of me became clearer, I developed into the more modern woman and so I spoke more of the feminine side of me. Touching on sexuality, but also just pure femininity and spirituality. I think the main thing is that there's always a sense of empowerment, which is very important for me.
There's also a sense of wonder. I love the idea of travelling either in time or in place. The idea of being curious and playful and being a little bit childish, because I think these are feelings that as adults, we tend to lose and I personally don't think we should.
In terms of my practice, I work on linen, canvas, and paper. These are the three main practices at the moment. When I look at canvas, I just go with a mood and an emotion. I will layer a background, and most of the time it will be with different colours. It can be brown or white and most of the time, it's reflecting the current mood I'm in. This provides a colour palette, then I slowly build. I don't sketch much. I never sketch the full results. I call it a dialogue, because I go step by step. Often, images come to my mind.
I try not to overthink, I try to remain very clinical. Most of the time, I will be working with the pastels and the acrylic first, and then the other materials will come after, through layering and building. Then I add the paper, then sewing, and then glitter.
Do the Work and You’ll Be Gold by Tiffanie Delune
With linen, I think much more and I am much slower. It's still a dialogue, it's just that I cannot rip things, so I have to go very slowly. Most of the time, I'm doing something else at the same time, it could be a quick drawing on a piece of paper. This is what you see when I work with paper. I tend to just do faces, it's a different practice. Most of the time, I do this between bigger works, sort of like a break.
As I build the work, I always make sure that the sense of magic, the sense of wonder and the sense of play stays. I make sure that I always remember what my message is. I really like poetry, so sometimes I start from a sentence or from a song that is stuck in my head. I allow myself to make mistakes, I also allow myself to be surprised by certain things.
Addy: I feel like embracing mistakes allows you to be authentic and stay true to yourself, which is visible in your works. This sense of magic is also very present. One of my favourite works by you is called The Magician.
Tiffanie: Yes, I like to call them imperfections because as humans we are imperfect. For me, it's the same, I think. It shouldn't always be too polished and perfect. Even when I try to do that sometimes, I realise I don't like it and I need to mix it up a little bit, or add something unexpected. I think it just shows us how human we are. I love that you see that when you see my work.
Obviously, you have only seen them digitally so far, once you see them in person, you will discover the materials. Most of the time, they get flattened in pictures. Some of them they don't appear the way they're supposed to. I like when people see my work, because they have a first impression, then as they spend some time with the work, they see more layers and surprises and corners and edges. They even sometimes see certain things that I don’t see. I like this because, for me it's the art of storytelling.
Addy: Amazing. When you meet different people, their interpretations of your work must be really fascinating.
Tiffanie: Absolutely. It’s what I love the most. It's fascinating because most of the time, I paint personal subjects, and then other people see something else. They see their own stories or their own references, or they see a part of the world they've never visited.
I think it's like music. When someone makes an album, most of the time they sing about their life, and when you listen it reminds you of your own story. I think that's the power of art.
Addy: Definitely. What do you find the most challenging about creating art?
Tiffanie: I think because I'm so passionate, sometimes it’s difficult to stop and rest. In the past year, because of the lockdown, I’ve had my son with me full-time and I’ve just learned to do it. I actually embrace it now because rest is feeding my process.
Sometimes you're blocked and then you rest or do something else and come back to your work and it makes it even better. Travelling or disconnecting as well, just going for a day somewhere with nature. It's always very special for me because when I come back, I'm very eager. I'm much kinder and gentler to myself as well, instead of just staring at the work and beating myself up about it. That's definitely something I’ve learned, and to be honest, I think you learn that as you get older as well, that you have to balance work, play and rest. It's not about working hard, it's about working efficiently. I actually think I work less hours than before, it's just that now I work better.
Addy: Yess, self care!
Tiffanie: I’m learning how to navigate my mindset and energy. I’m very interested in spirituality. I always need to feel that my energy is good and grounded and simple. There are very few tools that are accessible for things like this. How to navigate positive anxiety, how to navigate big news. How to navigate when sometimes for two months, you have big back-to-back projects happening, because people think you're happy and of course you are, but it's a lot sometimes. Especially if it makes you as anxious as negative news.
There's a big thing about people sabotaging themselves because they don't know how to handle when things go well. They’ve always wanted it, but they just don't know what to do with it.
Addy: Yes, of course. I think when things start going well, it can be quite overwhelming because you’ve spent so much time putting in the work and ✨manifesting✨, you haven’t taken the time to think about what you will do if these things actually happen.
Tiffanie: Exactly, and how to keep the creativity going. I've been introducing a lot of rituals, a lot of routines that keep me grounded. Like my little benchmark for that day, it makes me feel good and keeps me rooted in a way. I think it's very important to make sure your creativity is staying in tact, but it’s also important to stay happy and make sure that you're enjoying what you're doing.
Addy: For sure. These days there’s so much more emphasis on mindfulness and taking care of yourself, as opposed to glamorising overworking to the point of burnout.
Tiffanie: Yes. Hopefully, you're doing this stuff long-term.
(laughter)
Soulmates by Tiffanie Delune
Tiffanie: You don't know how long it's going to last, but you don't want to do this for just two years. You're trying to build something and to build something, you have to allow yourself to rest.
Addy: Yes. It's really insightful to hear what it's like to be in a position where things are good, but you still experience the same anxieties.
Tiffanie: For me, everything has been moving quite fast and unexpectedly. I am used to it, but there are moments where, of course, I’m like, "Wow, is this happening?"
(laughter)
As you say, we all want this to happen, but then when it happens, what do you do? Lockdown has allowed me to really listen to my feelings and my emotions. Not deny them and not say, "I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm fine." But to sometimes say, "Okay. This week, I'm just on a little break and I'm just taking some time, and then I'll be back to it next week."
Addy: I love that! I think when you approach things with a clear head, that's when you create your best work.
Tiffanie: I don't like to create from a place of anxiety. Personally, I'm someone that always makes sure my creativity is staying healthy, and bonded, and happy. I don't like creating from a place of anger or frustration. Even if I have this feeling, I try to turn it into something positive, or more hopeful and nourishing.
Addy: That's a really healthy approach to creativity. Who and what are your greatest influences? This can be music, film, friends, family, anything.
Tiffanie: Well, travel is definitely one of my biggest influences for sure. Trips to Nigeria, Egypt, Indonesia, even Turkey, and the Caribbean. I like the idea of being far away. I used to travel much more to Western cities and do all of the city trips, and I'm still interested in that, but less so. Right now, I prefer places that involve less tourism.
I'm looking for magic and spirit and storytelling, colours and emotions. Travel is very important for me. Even though last year I wasn't travelling, I spent time looking at images of photography from my travels.
When it comes to music, I'm very, very eclectic. I cannot say that I have only one influence because again, it's just a reflection of who I am. When it comes to artists, I'm particularly influenced by women artists much more than the male masters that we know. (we stan)
I love Hilma af Klint. I love Alice Rahon. I love all of these very spirited women that have done quite incredible abstract work, way ahead of their time. I don't know if you remember there was an exhibition called World Receivers?
Addy: I don’t!
Tiffanie: It was in London, but it was a while ago, It was Georgiana Houghton, Hilma af Klint and Emma Kunz. I'll send you the link. They were all ahead of their time. They were all exploring some sort of spirituality with one practice or another. They had different practices, but they were all connected to a higher world or a more subconscious world. When it comes to the past, that's the kind of thing I love. When it comes to modern, I love many contemporary African artists.
Addy: Yes!
Tiffanie: I love Omar Ba and Ouattara Watts. I love how these two, for example, incorporate abstraction and figuration, but the figurative side is very limited and small. It's more about the abstract and the magic. There are so many symbols, so much history. That’s the kind of thing that inspires me.
Stardust by Tiffanie Delune
Addy: Their works very layered.
Tiffanie: Yes. There's so much to explore. It's like looking at a map and just learning something new every time.
Addy: I feel like a lot of abstract works transcend reality in a way, it’s like a whole experience.
Tiffanie: Yes. I think what I love is this idea that you connect the past and the present. You connect the conscious and the subconscious. You connect the reality and the dream. You connect you and people. You basically connect different things, and you take all of these inferences and all of your personal references as well, and it just creates this one moment.
Addy: I'm picturing all of the words that you just said as like a map or a web.
Tiffanie: Yes, like a spider.
(laughter)
I love this idea that you can also link it to something else which maybe you haven’t even thought of, you know?
Addy: Yes.
Tiffanie: That's the beauty of it. Sometimes way later, I see something new in my paintings.
Addy: It’s really interesting how time can influence your experience of a work.
Tiffanie: Also because your experience of life is evolving, as a human, you are evolving and you are changing. If I show you something now and in three years, you will evolve personally. The painting is not changing, it’s you who is changing.
Addy: So true. How has your practice evolved over time?
Tiffanie: When I started, my colours were much more primary and direct, because I wasn't mixing much. I was using colours as they were. I've learned to blend, and tone, and shade. I've learned to layer as well. My first pieces were much more graphic, much more direct and flat, and geometrical. Now, it's more subtle, more poetic, and blended. I connect things together a lot more.
It's the practice and the confidence, to be honest, and also the sense of just letting go. To surrender, and not control everything, that's the main thing. Then, of course, the materials. When I started, I was only using acrylic, and then slowly but surely, I added more materials.
It's not always necessary. I don't force it, if it happens, it happens, and if it doesn't, it doesn't. These are the main things, and then the scale, obviously, because, with time, you feel much more confident to play with small-scale and large-scale, just exploring yourself. Also, just owning it and not necessarily trying to tame your creativity or put it in a box or limit yourself. Just accepting that sometimes, I like working on small pieces of paper, and sometimes I want to work on textile, or on a medium sized canvas like the one you see behind me. I accept all of these hats.
(laughter)
Addy: Is it cool wearing many hats?
Tiffanie: For me, to be honest, it's a little bit similar to a singer who likes writing, and playing instruments, and also sometimes producing for others. I think creativity is endless, it’s just that there are different hats that you enjoy. It doesn't mean that you do everything always 100%. Maybe one part is just 10% of you, and another part is 80% of you. It may be that you still enjoy keeping that 10%, like writing a song for someone else. For me, it's the same. Creativity is endless, and it needs to be fed so that it keeps growing. It's like a garden.
(laughter)
Addy: That's such a perfect analogy. Do you have a favourite piece of work that you've created?
Tiffanie: I miss this piece because I don't have it anymore, in my spirituality series, I really loved The Sun Doesn't Burn the Special Ones because I think it's one of my first abstract works where I achieved what I wanted. The others were more ideas and playing around, but I didn't always achieve what I wanted. This one I remember thinking, "Yes. There is something here." I remember feeling that I was accessing a new part of me that I hadn't experienced before and I felt very liberated. It was a real turning point for me.
The Sun Doesn't Burn the Special Ones by Tiffanie Delune
I also like the textile that I'm doing right now because there is a lot of emotion. It's playful, it's fun, it's different. The textile works are quite touching, especially when you see them hanging and playing with the light, and the soft movement. I think I like them because they show a more poetic side of me, a softer side, which maybe I haven’t always shown before.
Addy: I love that. How do you know when a work is complete?
Tiffanie: You just feel it. As I said, you’re in a dialogue with the work. It's like any conversation you may have with someone, you always know when it's a finished conversation or a finished subject. Sometimes it may be that I add something and I'm just like, "That's it. That's the last thing." It comes from feeling very connected to your intuitive and instinctive side.
Addy: Do you ever come back to a work?
Tiffanie: No, because I think if I start doing that, it will be a nightmare. (laughs)
Addy: Do you feel like you're your harshest critic?
Tiffanie: Yes, of course, you always are because you are your own teacher and student in a way. I try to shut that down and drown out the noise. If it happens, I try to navigate that in a subtle and gentle way, so as not to get bitten by it too harshly because I think it's difficult otherwise.
Addy: Yes, I think that’s the best approach. Last question! What’s next for you?
Tiffanie: The next big thing I'm doing, which is going to be announced very soon, I'm presenting textile works in Paris.
Addy: Exciting!
Tiffanie: I'm presenting five of them, it will be quite a nice setup. I'm excited because this is the first time that I’ve made work where I’ve already thought about the way I want to exhibit them. I already knew I wanted to hang them from the ceiling and I wanted to be able to walk around them. This is exactly what's going to happen in Paris, so I'm really excited. It will be in November. Then I will be presenting works on paper with Ed Cross Fine Art in January in London, and I'm going to show some works in Switzerland next year.
Addy: So many things! I see what you mean about having lots of things happening at the same time.
Tiffanie: I'm very grateful that I have work ahead. I know that it's not always easy to work when there's nothing coming. I'm also very happy that I'm about to show in different places because this is something I've always wanted to do.
Addy: Huge congrats!
Tiffanie: Thank you. It’s a unique opportunity for me, just to open up different conversations with different people in different places.
Feelings of Transition by Tiffanie Delune
Addy: Yes, definitely, that's really exciting. So for the final part of the interview, I like to do something called a rapid-fire round 🔥🔥
Tiffanie: Okay.
Addy: Here we go! Abstract or figurative?
Tiffanie: Abstract.
Addy: Modern or contemporary?
Tiffanie: Contemporary.
Addy: Galleries or museums?
Tiffanie: Galleries.
Addy: '80s glitter or '90s grunge?
Tiffanie: What?
Addy: Like the aesthetic. (laughs)
Tiffanie: '80s glitter.
Addy: Summer or winter?
Tiffanie: Summer.
Addy: Tea or coffee?
Tiffanie: Coffee.
Addy: Oh, okay. (laughs)
Tiffanie: I don't look like it, but I love coffee.
Addy: Do you drink loads of coffee every day?
Tiffanie: No, I only drink coffee in the morning. If I'm in America, it's just one large coffee because of the way they do it, but if it's here in Portugal or in France, we drink smaller coffee, so I will have two coffees. It's only to help me wake up in the morning. I never have it after lunch or in the afternoon or anything like that. It's not because it makes me crazy or whatever, I just really like the taste.
Addy: I have such a sweet tooth, so I can't drink coffee.
Tiffanie: I learned it slowly, because I didn't like coffee before. It's really something that came with ageing.
Addy: Omg yes, I have that with olives. When I was really young, I didn't like olives at all, and then as I got older, I learned to appreciate them so much more.
Tiffanie: I think some parts of us just evolve.
Addy: So true! Oceans or mountains?
Tiffanie: Oceans.
Addy: Books or movies?
Tiffanie: That's a hard one. Books.
Addy: Texting or phone calls?
Tiffanie: Texting.
Addy: Friday night or Sunday morning?
Tiffanie: Sunday morning.
Addy: Interesting. Last one! What is the last song that you listened to?
Tiffanie: Let me check my Spotify, I listen to music all the time. It's a South African album by Major League DJZ. The album is called Pianochella.
Addy: Oh, that sounds cool.
Tiffanie: It’s a very summery vibe. I love it, it's great. The song is called Dinaledi, but the whole album is amazing.
Addy: I can’t wait to listen! Tiffanie, thank you so much for sitting down with me and talking about your art. I really enjoyed interviewing you today.
Tiffanie: Thank you so much.
For more from the amazing Tiffanie, check out her works here!