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Islan d Arts Creativity is Therapy
“If you’re going to rebel, do it with purpose”
The pillars of society - ones that ensure that knowledge is continuously passed down and put into practice, are its teachers. The same remains true in the art community. For every artist you see (even those who are self-taught), there’s at least one bit of knowledge that was passed onto them which they may have later put to use. Knowledge makes the world go round, and visual artist & educator Tatiana Nicolaas (also known by her artist alias TXN) is among the people aiding the cause.
Having graduated in Fine Art & Design in Education at the Utrecht University of the Arts (HKU), she returned to Bonaire in 2020 and launched her own company, TXN Studios where she hosts visual art programs for people of all ages. As an outspoken visionary with fierce willpower, her main goal is to open her own art institute on the island. Everything she does and all the work she puts in is to get herself closer to that goal, one step at a time and on her own merits. When it comes to TXN Studios, Tatiana prefers a more dynamic way of teaching her guests. She enjoys giving classes in outside environments where she can allow her guests to think outside the box; without being confined behind 4 walls for hours on end. An example of this would be the sunset sketches she hosts. She also works with various daycare & after-school centers where she works with youngsters, showing them new techniques and experimenting with different materials that they normally might not have access to.
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And when she’s not working under her own company & alias, she’s an art teacher for the VMBO section of the Scholengemeenschap Bonaire (SGB). She hosts a weekly after-school program there, titled Awa i Koló (with a focus on watercolor painting), where students can stay and level up their visual art talents further with her. She’s also teaching them how to become entrepreneurs with their art by showing them how to market their work. For example, she’s petitioning to have their own tent stand where they can sell their art. The important part is teaching her students that their art also has value. I was able to visit her SGB classroom and what I saw was basically an art teacher’s paradise. A large room refurbished from scratch, with walls deliberately left blank as a canvas to paint murals on in the future. The classroom was well-equipped, from the tables & chairs to the materials & tools, even down to the light fixtures; everything to ensure her students had the environment & resources they needed to stimulate their creativity.
Tatiana wants to help youngsters express themselves through their work. After all, she herself started making visual art at a young age as a distraction and as a way to express herself. She wishes to challenge the way art is perceived on the island. She believes there is not enough art being done here as a form of expression; a lot of it being more focused on traditional beauty. She wishes to make people’s perceptions of art more broad. Not just making visual art for beauty, but to show the emotions, the traumas & the experiences from within as a form of creative therapy. Tatiana has come a long way. From being inspired as a student by her former art teachers Camla Crestian & Karine de Witt, to now being an inspiration to her very own students. I remember Tatiana when she was working as an intern for a former art teacher of mine, Bart van der Mark, back when I was a student at Liseo Boneriano. Now, she’s working tirelessly to be the change she wants to see in the art community. From the looks of her classroom alone, she’s slowly proving that she can provide the resources & environment needed to help aspiring artists. So, I can’t wait to see what she could do with her own art institute in the future. If you want to see what TXN Studios is up to or even contact Tatiana, don’t hesitate to check out TXN Studios on Facebook & Instagram! facebook.com/shegoesbytxn instagram @txnstudios