By Michael McCarthy By Michael McCarthy | December 22, 2022 | People, Art,
The Maryland artist continues to evolve with the camera as her tool, especially with an upcoming Annapolis show.Artist Tawny Chatmon
Tawny Chatmon (tawnychatmon.com, @tawnychatmon) says the easiest way to consider her style of photographic art is that she takes a multilayered approach when creating. “Photography is still the first layer of communication for me,” she says. “After a portrait session is complete, I incorporate various practices, materials and mediums such as digital collage, photo manipulation, acrylic paint, semiprecious stones and gold leaf. I don’t follow a set of rules, and I’m only finished once I feel the piece has said everything I want to say, with each layer serving its very own meaningful purpose.” The result is a gorgeous mix of hyper-realism and dreamscape. Chatmon, whose current show is The Radical Voice of Blackness Speaks of Resistance and Joy at the Banneker-Douglass Museum in Annapolis (through Sept. 30, 2023, bdmuseum. maryland.gov), sat down to talk about her craft.
Tawny Chatmon, “But She Already Knew They Were More Precious Than All the Jewels and Gold in the World” (2020, 24K gold leaf, acrylic, watercolor on archival pigment print), 52 inches by 36 inches.
Who are your muses? My children. The world they live in—and will raise their families in—inspires my work.
If you weren’t an artist, what would you be doing? I would probably just be roaming free and traveling the world. I’d need some income, so I’d be a travel blogger of some sort. I’ve got the traveling part down already, just not the blogging.
When are you happiest? Whenever I’m with my family. I feel stressed whenever I’m away from my little family, even for a few days.
If your career were a song, what would its title be? There’s a beautiful song by an artist named Geminelle called ‘The Joy Is in the Work.’ I think that describes my career right now.
Who would play you in a biopic of your artistic life? I’d rather have a documentary about me produced by my children when I’m long gone. But if I had to choose a feature film and actor, my daughter says Zendaya should play me. She’s fantastic, so I’d be happy with that choice!
Your favorite quotes? First, ‘Our children inherit what we don’t resolve.’ Second, this quote is attributed to Aristotle, which goes, ‘Where your talents and the needs of the world cross, there lies your vocation.’ Lastly, ‘Create the things you wish existed.’
Photography by: COURTESY OF PKM; TAWNEY CHATMON