About Tiya Caniel

artist statement

My multidisciplinary practice — spanning painting, mixed media, jewelry design, photography, drawing, and original writing — is rooted in exploration, reverence, and liberation. I create to honor Black joy, ancestral wisdom, and the deep love I hold for Mother Nature and community. Influenced by yogic philosophy and the teachings of my own spiritual path, my work invites others into presence, curiosity, and self-reflection.

Through abstraction, I explore what it means to imagine new worlds and possibilities beyond imposed limitations. In my Walking Meditations series, a single continuous line meanders across the surface, inviting the viewer into a gentle, breath-led gaze — a visual meditation designed to ground and attune. My Dreamscapes are studies of my inner landscapes, rooted in the surreal and expansive nature of dreams. These pieces speak to the quiet power of imagination as resistance and remembrance.

Collage and mixed media works often incorporate fragments of older pieces, found objects, fabrics, and hand-painted paper — a process of layering memory, texture, and time. Some works become more representational, honoring ancestors and the natural world, while others remain intuitive and abstract, guided by a deep sense of joy and play.

Across all mediums, I center vibrancy, freedom, and sensory experience. My practice is fluid and improvisational — driven not by perfection but by presence. I aim to incite joy, wonder, curiosity, and reflection in others, offering my art as an invitation to slow down, tune in, and connect more deeply with self, lineage, and the sacred.