Tania LaCaria
Tania LaCaria (Canada b. 1985) is an Italian-Canadian artist. She holds a BA in Fine Arts from York University (2006) and a CIDA advanced diploma in Interior Design from Sheridan College (2009). LaCaria launched her residential interior design consulting firm in 2005 and has since traveled the world extensively, gathering inspiration from various cultures and countries where she’s lived, namely in Latin America and South East Asia. Her travels have always influenced her work in art and design and continue to be an important source of inspiration for her. She returned to Canada and settled in Hamilton in 2016, where she currently lives and works.
ARTIST’S STATEMENT
LaCaria’s work explores paradox - the idea that two opposing realities can exist at the same time - with a focus on themes based on gender, sexuality, social structure/class systems, body politics and relationships, often presented in an Abstract Expressionist aesthetic. LaCaria’s mission in life is to form meaningful connections with others, and she does this through her art.
As a conceptual artist, LaCaria thrives in a state of curiosity, eager to ask questions of herself and the world around her during her creative process while admitting she doesn't have the answers. Her background in Interior Design blends seamlessly with her love for visual arts as LaCaria spent the majority of her professional life as a solutionist for her clients. Now, as a full-time professional artist, LaCaria is eager to share her curiosity with others by producing thought-provoking work that prompts viewers to ask questions about themselves and their life experiences.
In order to ensure viewers make an emotional connection to her visual works, LaCaria exhibits and presents her work alongside her poetry, her preferred method of story-telling, to provide additional context to the motivation behind her creative decisions. Her creative process has been described as ‘performative’ with an emphasis on the deep introspection, vulnerability and social observations she is making that are often juxtaposed by the playful, “fun” and seemingly light-hearted way her often brightly colored work presents to viewers.
Tania LaCaria (Canada b. 1985) is an Italian-Canadian artist. She holds a BA in Fine Arts from York University (2006) and a CIDA advanced diploma in Interior Design from Sheridan College (2009). LaCaria launched her residential interior design consulting firm in 2005 and has since traveled the world extensively, gathering inspiration from various cultures and countries where she’s lived, namely in Latin America and South East Asia. Her travels have always influenced her work in art and design and continue to be an important source of inspiration for her. She returned to Canada and settled in Hamilton in 2016, where she currently lives and works.
ARTIST’S STATEMENT
LaCaria’s work explores paradox - the idea that two opposing realities can exist at the same time - with a focus on themes based on gender, sexuality, social structure/class systems, body politics and relationships, often presented in an Abstract Expressionist aesthetic. LaCaria’s mission in life is to form meaningful connections with others, and she does this through her art.
As a conceptual artist, LaCaria thrives in a state of curiosity, eager to ask questions of herself and the world around her during her creative process while admitting she doesn't have the answers. Her background in Interior Design blends seamlessly with her love for visual arts as LaCaria spent the majority of her professional life as a solutionist for her clients. Now, as a full-time professional artist, LaCaria is eager to share her curiosity with others by producing thought-provoking work that prompts viewers to ask questions about themselves and their life experiences.
In order to ensure viewers make an emotional connection to her visual works, LaCaria exhibits and presents her work alongside her poetry, her preferred method of story-telling, to provide additional context to the motivation behind her creative decisions. Her creative process has been described as ‘performative’ with an emphasis on the deep introspection, vulnerability and social observations she is making that are often juxtaposed by the playful, “fun” and seemingly light-hearted way her often brightly colored work presents to viewers.
$810.00
Acrylic, conte and ink on canvas.
30x36x1.50"
Hiding your true self from others is something you learned to do at a very young age, likely by accident. Maybe you did something that someone made you feel ashamed about. Maybe you were laughed at, and that pain cut right through to your heart.
You learned to protect yourself by retreating deep within, eager to spare yourself more hurt over the fear that the people you love wouldn't like what they saw in you. You learned to adjust, to adapt, to perform, to repress your true self for many years, until at some point, something changed, and it was no longer possible to continue the performance. That is when you felt a hint of bravery to step out from behind the curtain, and your life began to take on a whole new meaning, a new way of life that felt fulfilling, enriching and exciting.
Was your stepping out bold and fearless, in one big sweeping reveal? Or was it a trepidatious and cautious experience, like getting into the swimming pool one toe at a time before taking the plunge? Either way, the important thing is that you took steps towards being true to you.
This painting is about the fear and excitement behind the journey that comes with finally saying the things you needed to say in order to get back to your truth, your true Self.
$720.00
Ink, acrylic, poppy seeds on canvas.
30x12x1.50"
Whatever is planted will grow. The sun and rain and earth don’t discriminate. The most beautiful of flowers will break through the layers of ground cover on the forest floor. The most wretched weed covered in thorns will grow from the tiniest crack in the concrete. Whatever you are planting will grow, make sure your seeds are worth sowing.
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Just because a story was told, does not mean it was heard.
The Pieces Of The Whole collection explores story-telling and how narratives about women are rewritten/edited/retold to benefit the listener, whoever that may be, for better or for worse. The idea that women are not always in control of the narratives of their own lives, or how their stories are shared with others, depending on context, is expressed through this collection using the unifying imagery of peaches.
This series began as studies of peaches for an upcoming collection entitled She’s A Sweet Peach (working title). As the artist’s work is performative in nature, these paintings were part of larger canvases that were later cropped and assembled with both intentional and unintentional approaches to editing - an exercise for the artist in detachment regarding the need to control the narrative. This physical re-assembling of canvases on smaller frames is an attempt to explore how many smaller stories can contribute to the “bigger picture”, and it can still be beautiful, even if there are parts missing.
Intriguing parts of certain paintings were left behind while other parts were included due to dimensional limitations of the frame. These limitations that were beyond the artist’s control reinforced the importance, as well as the potential harm, behind censorship.
$2,600.00
Acrylic, flashe, pastel on canvas.
40x54x1.50"
Because sometimes it just is, and there’s no reason as to why. It just is. And we strive to find meaning, to give more or less weight to a situation by attempting to understand the WHY behind the situation, because it will make us feel better to understand, to know why. But after it’s all said and done, the why won’t change anything, and it won’t necessarily bring you peace. Sometimes it is just because it is, and there’s a way to find peace with that if you’ll allow it.
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The Dreamscape collection is inspired by the intangible way we experience past memories and recall dreams. When you’re actively dreaming, it’s impossible to distinguish imagination from reality. The subconscious presents this dreamscape dimension vividly: shapes are defined, faces are recognizable and settings are clear - but after waking and reflecting on the narrative, everything that seemed solid and realistic suddenly seems hazy, uncertain, unclear. Memories are like this, too. Depending on our perspective, or the mood we’re in when we conjour them, memories are ever-shifting: they can move from sweet to sour, from truth to lie, the extreme moments stand out from the mundane. Both dreams and memories exist in the extremes. They’re usually labelled in our minds as clear vs. confusing, good vs. bad, joyful vs. painful…but this is simply our human experience attempting to make the most sense of a subconscious experience. In reality, both recollections are held together by a baseline of “grey area”. This collection serves to explore the tenuous tie that binds paradox, and how it is whimsical and fleeting in its existence, ever-changing and dynamic.
$2,600.00
Acrylic, flashe, pastel on canvas.
40x54x1.50"
You tried to escape, to run away, to seek solitude or company, to get out of your own way or the way of others. You have been on the move in an effort to outrun yourself and your pain, until you realized that yourself is always with you. And for once, instead of this feeling like a burden, it became a deep comfort, a relief; to know that no matter where you go, there you’ll be. Now you travel with this sense of self, nurture this self, love this self and are so thankful to be at peace with this self that you can barely remember a time when you tried to evade your very own heart. No matter where you go, there you’ll be, and you now know that even when you’re by yourself, you’re never alone.
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The Dreamscape collection is inspired by the intangible way we experience past memories and recall dreams. When you’re actively dreaming, it’s impossible to distinguish imagination from reality. The subconscious presents this dreamscape dimension vividly: shapes are defined, faces are recognizable and settings are clear - but after waking and reflecting on the narrative, everything that seemed solid and realistic suddenly seems hazy, uncertain, unclear. Memories are like this, too. Depending on our perspective, or the mood we’re in when we conjour them, memories are ever-shifting: they can move from sweet to sour, from truth to lie, the extreme moments stand out from the mundane. Both dreams and memories exist in the extremes. They’re usually labelled in our minds as clear vs. confusing, good vs. bad, joyful vs. painful…but this is simply our human experience attempting to make the most sense of a subconscious experience. In reality, both recollections are held together by a baseline of “grey area”. This collection serves to explore the tenuous tie that binds paradox, and how it is whimsical and fleeting in its existence, ever-changing and dynamic.
$3,000.00
Acrylic, flash, pastel on canvas.
40x60x1.50"
The familiarity of having been here before, however impossible that may seem. A struggle between intuition and the rational perception of reality.
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The Dreamscape collection is inspired by the intangible way we experience past memories and recall dreams. When you’re actively dreaming, it’s impossible to distinguish imagination from reality. The subconscious presents this dreamscape dimension vividly: shapes are defined, faces are recognizable and settings are clear - but after waking and reflecting on the narrative, everything that seemed solid and realistic suddenly seems hazy, uncertain, unclear. Memories are like this, too. Depending on our perspective, or the mood we’re in when we conjour them, memories are ever-shifting: they can move from sweet to sour, from truth to lie, the extreme moments stand out from the mundane. Both dreams and memories exist in the extremes. They’re usually labelled in our minds as clear vs. confusing, good vs. bad, joyful vs. painful…but this is simply our human experience attempting to make the most sense of a subconscious experience. In reality, both recollections are held together by a baseline of “grey area”. This collection serves to explore the tenuous tie that binds paradox, and how it is whimsical and fleeting in its existence, ever-changing and dynamic.
$3,000.00
Acrylic, flashe, ink on canvas.
40x60x1.50"
To dive so deeply into one’s self that the process of self-discovery becomes an experience of meeting someone new while simultaneously being overcome with a deep sense of familiarity. A sense of nostalgia for a lost self that has returned after a long time away, only to be reminded that this familiar self is not familiar because you knew them before, but reminiscent of the person you always wished to know. You have become the person your own dreams always hoped you’d be.
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The Dreamscape collection is inspired by the intangible way we experience past memories and recall dreams. When you’re actively dreaming, it’s impossible to distinguish imagination from reality. The subconscious presents this dreamscape dimension vividly: shapes are defined, faces are recognizable and settings are clear - but after waking and reflecting on the narrative, everything that seemed solid and realistic suddenly seems hazy, uncertain, unclear. Memories are like this, too. Depending on our perspective, or the mood we’re in when we conjour them, memories are ever-shifting: they can move from sweet to sour, from truth to lie, the extreme moments stand out from the mundane. Both dreams and memories exist in the extremes. They’re usually labelled in our minds as clear vs. confusing, good vs. bad, joyful vs. painful…but this is simply our human experience attempting to make the most sense of a subconscious experience. In reality, both recollections are held together by a baseline of “grey area”. This collection serves to explore the tenuous tie that binds paradox, and how it is whimsical and fleeting in its existence, ever-changing and dynamic.
$1,935.00
Acrylic, flashe, pastel on canvas.
44x44x1.50"
The response we give to the most commonly asked question means nothing at all. How many people actually ask this and expect a genuine reply? How many people actually have the mental capacity to be honest in answering? Why has it become so exhausting to tell the truth about our state of being right now?
Is it because we’re continually being told how we’re SUPPOSED to be feeling? That we should be happier, more joyful, grateful, sadder, angrier? Is it because our responses are never accepted for what they are because we’re not allowed to just FEEL whatever we’re feeling?
Your anger is valid.
Your joy is valid.
Your fear is valid.
Your frustration is valid.
Your excitement is valid.
Every single one of your feelings and emotions are valid because they’re yours. Enough is enough, we don’t have to pretend we’re feeling a certain way to please other people anymore. We're done with that. We're leaving that in 2021.
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This painting is part of the Enough is Enough collection that features stories about betrayal, manipulation, abuse, control and a lack of rights for women.
Inspired by the current state of affairs in the USA after the overturning of Roe v. Wade in which men are once again making decisions for women and their bodies in order to keep minorities controlled and silenced - this type of manipulation and abuse is something that women, the trans community and other minorities have experienced in the home for years. Disguising the criminalization of abortion as a pro-life decision is a disservice to the people who are losing the right to live their lives on their own terms. Abuse, neglect, gas-lighting and manipulation are tactics used by the oppressor to maintain control over a person, or in this case, an entire group of people. The name Pat is used to address the Patriarchy throughout this collection.
This collection is an expression of rage directed at those who have the audacity to claim to be acting in the best interest of those whom they are controlling.
$2,160.00
Acrylic, flashe, pastel on canvas.
54x40x1.50"
The stories you tell become a part of you. Are you sharing them to be seen? Or are you sharing them to stay hidden? Are you sharing the truth, even when it hurts? Or are you choosing to remain a performer, an entertainer? Do you fancy yourself a poet, an artist, a philosopher? Or are you just another jester trying to keep the masses distracted and misled? The funny thing about stories is that you get to choose how you tell them, and you get to choose the audience.
There is always a choice to be made, and as the storyteller, you hold the power.
You are welcome to keep your stories. May they bring you peace and joy, and when the day comes that the words that make up your tales begin to taste like poison in your mouth, I wish you the courage to change your story to be closer to the truth until the only words you can bring yourself to speak are those of honesty, drenched in golden light, void of fallacy and full of honor.
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This painting is part of the Enough is Enough collection that features stories about betrayal, manipulation, abuse, control and a lack of rights for women.
Inspired by the current state of affairs in the USA after the overturning of Roe v. Wade in which men are once again making decisions for women and their bodies in order to keep minorities controlled and silenced - this type of manipulation and abuse is something that women, the trans community and other minorities have experienced in the home for years. Disguising the criminalization of abortion as a pro-life decision is a disservice to the people who are losing the right to live their lives on their own terms. Abuse, neglect, gas-lighting and manipulation are tactics used by the oppressor to maintain control over a person, or in this case, an entire group of people. The name Pat is used to address the Patriarchy throughout this collection.
This collection is an expression of rage directed at those who have the audacity to claim to be acting in the best interest of those whom they are controlling.
$2,420.00
Acrylic, ink, spray paint, dyed linen on raw canvas.
44x44x2"
Through her poem Unnamed, Porsha Olayiwola uses her voice to respond to the following comment captured on TikTok by a caucasian woman: “Black people are notorious for naming their children 25-letter names that they’re never gonna get even pronounced right let alone spelled right, why would you do that?”
Knowing the origin of one’s name is a privilege. Porscha Olayiwola points out how having to bear the name of your oppressor because it is the only title you’ve ever known, is a life sentence of re-traumatization. The motivation behind this piece is based on an abstracted concept of a map and what it might look like to imagine people who share the same history, trauma and origin stories scattered all over the world. The small textile “petals” that reference the magnolia tree from Porsha Olayiwola’s poem were cut out of large sheets of 100% cotton linen, some of which was naturally dyed a soft pink with avocado skins, some of which are covered in text from the poem Unnamed. The namesake origins that Porsha Olayiwola speaks about carry the paradox of triumph and eventual freedom from slavery in tandem with the permanent stains and painful markings of an unjust and brutal history that precedes it.
To arrogantly question the intention and “absurdity” behind names of different cultures and “otherness” is a golden privilege of the oppressor.
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The VOICES (That’s What She Said) collection is a celebration of the way women have used their words and voices to empower themselves and others. This collection was exhibited as an audio-visual immersive experience at the McMaster research-based performance LIVELab theater in Hamilton, Ontario during Hamilton Arts Week in which the theater was converted into a gallery space where original works of art were displayed in tandem with streaming audio featuring the recorded voice of the original woman speaker.
The chatter of all the voices over the speakers at once created a sense of chaos and confusion, prompting attendees to ask themselves the questions: Whose voices are you giving your attention to? Whose voices deserve more or less attention? How do you discern who you’re listening to when confronted with an overwhelming amount of noise? In a time when social media and mainstream media has the potential to distract from the important messages that women are eager to share with the public, the VOICES (That’s What She Said) audio-visual immersive exhibition acts as a physical reenactment of the media platforms in which women’s voices are either being elevated or dismissed, depending on the audience.
At the risk of overpowering the valuable and impactful messages behind each woman’s monologue, speech or poetry, the artist has decided to depart from her usual format of accompanying her original pieces with poetry of her own, and instead is focusing on communicating the intention behind each work as it was inspired by the words of another woman.
The artist highly encourages the viewer to listen to the original speaker’s voice as she delivers the words she is speaking to a public audience, and where possible, links to purchase the original speaker’s work are provided. By choosing to listen to the words spoken by women through this collection and through other forms of media, the viewer/listener is contributing to elevating women’s voices. Women have value. Their words hold weight. Their experiences matter. After years of existing with the primary purpose of being “seen”, it is time for women to take up more space in platforms that allow us to be seen AND heard.
$720.00
Ink, acrylic, poppy seeds on canvas.
30x12x1.50"
Guarded behind the softest skin and the strongest rib cage lies her heart. It is more than an organ, it is the keeper of secrets, the provider of warmth, the creator of magic. It is the definition of safety, the origin of beauty. It can be broken a hundred times and come back stronger than ever.
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Just because a story was told, does not mean it was heard.
The Pieces Of The Whole collection explores story-telling and how narratives about women are rewritten/edited/retold to benefit the listener, whoever that may be, for better or for worse. The idea that women are not always in control of the narratives of their own lives, or how their stories are shared with others, depending on context, is expressed through this collection using the unifying imagery of peaches.
This series began as studies of peaches for an upcoming collection entitled She’s A Sweet Peach (working title). As the artist’s work is performative in nature, these paintings were part of larger canvases that were later cropped and assembled with both intentional and unintentional approaches to editing - an exercise for the artist in detachment regarding the need to control the narrative. This physical re-assembling of canvases on smaller frames is an attempt to explore how many smaller stories can contribute to the “bigger picture”, and it can still be beautiful, even if there are parts missing.
Intriguing parts of certain paintings were left behind while other parts were included due to dimensional limitations of the frame. These limitations that were beyond the artist’s control reinforced the importance, as well as the potential harm, behind censorship.
$3,100.00
Flashe, acrylic, pastel, pencil crayon on canvas.
40x60x1.50"
The protector, the provider, the fighter. The get-it-done, the just-do-it, the go-for-it attitude. Strong, in control, in charge. A mask she was never supposed to wear, a part of herself that she has learned to switch on and off. All confidence, no regrets, all lessons, no failures.
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The Mirror collection is an exploration of who people are according to themselves vs. who people appear to be to others, and whether these two "identities" are actually one in the same or entirely different personas. The artist asks the question of whether or not one's sense of Self can exist without the context of who she is according to other people.
The reflection one sees of themselves in a mirror is an inverted image of what others see - a mirror, the tool we use to view ourselves, is not even an accurate depiction of what we look like to others.
The mirror is an unreliable source of reflection but it's ironically used daily to ensure "we look our best" or "look like ourselves" before facing other people. The artist is exploring the concepts of truth and perception as it relates to the Self, and whether or not the identities people claim as their own are naturally formed and inherited at birth or fabricated and curated over the years as a result of life experiences and the influence of other people.
The artist used personal items including clothing, shoes and cosmetics to create these pieces, focusing on the juxtaposition between line work and fluid forms to express the tension between the varying degrees of masculine and feminine energies the artist has identified in herSelf.
$1,190.00
Flashe, acrylic, coloured pencil on canvas.
20x36x1.50"
Without a thought, there’s an inhale, an exhale. One count. Two. Three. Four. Easily disrupted, easily controlled.
Without a thought, there’s a beat, a filling, a releasing. The systolic and diastolic in perfect flow, mindlessly, lovingly; your own heart beating only for you; your own heart living just for you.
Without a thought to your thoughts, they can build a cage around your mind, set the bullseye for your heart and strike in the dark.
To make a home of your own heart is a choice, a meditation, a practice; the ultimate rebellion to hate; an act of pure love.
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Displacement: The act of being removed, displaced, rehoused, relocated; to result in a state of disorganization, confusion, elation, inspiration, disruption.
The Displacement collection explores the post-adrenaline lucidity that settles in after having been rearranged, moved, shifted, altered, either in place and body or spiritually in heart and mind, or in most cases, both.
The artist is asking questions about what results in the heart, mind and psyche after having been physically displaced, as she observes members of her community be un-housed and re-housed, either by choice or by circumstance. In the artist’s personal case, she is aware of her position of privilege as she seeks to move locations and displace herself as a form of empowerment and inspiration; whereas the same experience of displacement for those who have not elected to do so is disorienting, exhausting and draining.
Displacement is an exploration of the power behind intention, the divide between social classes and the way conversations about displacement either empower or oppress others based on their socio economic circumstances.