Tiffani Glen

Artist Biography:

Enabling viewers to look beyond the obvious in each of her portraits is the charge of Tiffani Glenn, an emerging artist building a foundation for greater notoriety and success. Through paintings of stylized caricatures with exaggerated statuesque forms and identities, Glenn embarks upon a creative journey recognizing that perseverance is the only pathway.

Glenn draws upon her own worldview as a woman, and her formal education in media arts and animation to generate a body of works filled with energy and range. Today, Glenn finds solace in painting images viewers often find profoundly familiar. Reflections of oneself on canvas with a distinctive and whimsical point of view.

Glenn paints mostly Black women overcoming adversity exuding self-love, acceptance, confidence and empowerment in each artistic work. Still, her mission is to develop bodacious images that come across as proud and inspiring while embracing an individual diversity and difference.

THE ARTIST PRACTICE

I am a huge fan of artist Ernie Barnes. I am in awe of his artistic ability to exaggerate characters in his paintings that exhibit so much movement. Whenever I feel a lack of inspiration or have an artist block, I take one look at an Ernie Barnes painting and instantly feel inspired. This is the way I want others to feel when they see my work. I have been fascinated with stylized art and found myself drawn to animated characters since a young age. This love is the main driving force behind my style as an artist, as many of my works include an exaggeration of the features and limbs.

I focus mostly on black women and pieces that have inspiring and motivating messages behind them while also presenting black women in a positive light. I believe there are always moments in life where we may question our ability to succeed in something and lack confidence. I've learned that every art journey takes time and experience. I still have a lot to learn within my own path and am content with the process at each moment. This is why it is so important for me to paint images that promote self-love and empowerment, and messages of reassurance.

THE STUDIO PRACTICE

I currently use a small section in my living room as my studio space. My favorite thing about this is the convenience of being in house, especially after working at my job during the day. This way when the urge hits me to get up and create, I can simply get off my couch, find that spot two feet away, sit down, and get to work. I’m either work on a freshly opened canvas or finally finish a piece already started days before.

I work better with music so my air pods and a good playlist are the major things that have to be present in order to set the tone, and perhaps a glass of wine. I normally sketch directly on the canvas and then pick a color palette as I go along using acrylic, or more recently, oil paint. I enjoy using vibrant colors to set the tone and tenor of my canvases. As I build layer after layer, I take progress shots along the way with my phone to help with perspective and composition until complete. My workspace is chaotic, with paint tubes everywhere, and my clothes are normally covered in paint smudges by this time. I then spend about 15-20 minutes reflecting about the finished piece and process that led me to that very moment.

When I decided I wanted to be serious about my art journey, I quickly realized it wasn’t going to be easy. I often felt discouraged but then I had to remind myself how far I have come since being on this path. Truth is, I had a lot to learn as an artist, including being okay with starting small and using my living room for studio space. I became content with taking small steps and learning how to appreciate them along the way.