The Ohio Artist Registry (OAR) is an exciting opportunity for artists to share their work, connect with the creative community, and establish an online presence—all on a free, virtual platform! The OAR encourages artists working in all art forms, throughout Ohio and beyond, to create a profile, which allows them to better promote themselves and their work. Being listed in the OAR provides artists with new opportunities to share their work with clients, galleries, patrons, and audiences. A listing in the OAR does not confer an endorsement, approval, or verification by the Ohio Arts Council.
For more information, contact Kathy Signorino, artist programs director, at kathy.signorino@oac.ohio.gov or 614-728-6140.
2024 Ohio Artist Registry Juried Exhibition
Tiffany Lawson
ArtistBio
Tiffany Lawson is a professional multidisciplinary artist, born and raised on the Southside of Columbus, Ohio. From early beginnings of masterpieces scribbled behind the couch, to community arts programs and summer camps, art has always been her nature. Literature, art and music were anchors in her household, formulating ideas and an undeniable affinity for creativity. As a teenager, she began to realize her purpose as an artist after being exposed to local influences such as Aminah B.L. Robinson, Grandpa Smokey Brown and family as well as Richard Duarte Brown through programs her mother managed at the church across the street from their home. These programs broadened her access to and understanding of the arts. She was also mentored by Gilda Edwards. Through the use of the arts community and programs in Central Ohio, she honed her skills and developed a creative voice; shown locally and nationally.
She obtained a B.A. in Mass Communications and Social Issues from The Ohio State University in 2005. Upon graduating, Tiffany accepted a position as a judicial assistant in the Franklin County Municipal Court where she is currently employed, although her passion continues to lie in expressing her creativity. In 2014, she became a resident artist at Millworks Studios, where she began to show her work professionally. 2017 brought a renewed commitment to her art after acquiring “the island”; her home studio, where she currently resides on the of Eastside of Columbus. A Master Urban Farmer since 2019, she also holds a certificate as an Art Therapy Life Coach. 2021 brought the inaugural residency at the Columbus Cultural Arts Center, as she was selected as the first recipient for the position.
Artist Statement
My art is created from items and images that are at hand and previous drawings collected over time. I have found the practice of collecting and rearranging to be innate; an archival process that recovers the past, secures the present and expects the future. Anchored in my spirituality, culture, and womanhood, I use songs, lyrics, and scripture/verse as my mechanism to collect memories, in tandem with the present, reconstructing stories for the future. I create my work largely on brown paper bags, which gives life to my pieces, in that they are recycled; alive. With the brown paper bags as a base, I build my works, some multi-dimensional, in layers using mixed medias and mediums while employing the use of bricolage. The fabric used is mostly comprised of my mother’s Wauhtuka Doll scraps. By utilizing multiple disciplines, I create assemblages that explore form and color, unified by the spirit of black life.
The use of bricolage symbolizes the black experience and involves and demands the ability to “use what you got”. From slavery, to the present, the black imagination developed techniques, mechanisms, and traditions that make due from scraps. In seemingly insurmountable ways, the spirit of black life adapts in the most brutal conditions, making beauty, holding sacred, and celebrating black resilience.
My work embodies the Japanese aesthetic of wabi-sabi. It is a view of imperfection and impermanence that requires unbound acceptance that creates appreciating beauty. I explore wabi-sabi, with a focus on relationship and community. Imperfection and impermanence are understood in nature, however humanity desires perfection and resists change. A posture that lends itself to hatred, injustice, and inequality. Love, joy, peace, comfort, grace and mercy “but the greatest of these is love”; are principles I create from as resistance and empowerment. By accepting imperfections, humanity can evolve. Relationships can be reconciled, and communities can be rebuilt by reflecting on the past, acknowledging failures, and expecting new outcomes.