Voices of the Diaspora: The Artisans Behind the Canvas

Stina Baudin is a Haitian-Canadian multidisciplinary textile artist. Her textile sculptures incorporate data, text, archival materials, and oral histories. Baudin's work makes connections among Black culture, geography, mythology, storytelling and architectural compositions.  Baudin studied at both Concordia University in Montreal and The Academy of Fine Arts in Belgium.

Sybil Coovi Handemagnon (1988- ) is a French multidisciplinary artist. With a starting point of Western photography archives, she interrogates the medium as a tool of truthful documentation. Through sculpture, video, and installation, Coovi Handemagnon works with the imprisoned “specters”, listening to them and creating connections and inability to categorize them. She is interested in the archival understanding and how meaning is continuously reinscribed. 

Tabitha Whitley (1987- ) is an American painter and printmaker. Whitley creates portraits celebrating Black life and joy. Many of her works feature nature - either flowers or vines.  Whitley received her MFA in Painting from the New York Academy of Art, New York, New York in 2011. She received her BFA in Painting from the  Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, New York in 2009.

Tadesse Mesfin (1953- ) is an Ethiopian painter. Mesfin is known for his scenes of women at the market or in other domestic settings. Using flat brushstrokes, he creates works that ask viewers to contemplate the interior lives of his many subjects.  Mesfin attended the Addis Ababa University School of Fine Arts and Design and the Repin Academy of Painting, Architecture & Sculpture. 

Tadáskía (1993- ) is a Brazilian artist whose practice spans photography, works on paper, installation, and performance. A common thread in her work is the desire to bring marginalized voices to the center. Other themes in her work are Black freedom, expression, and personhood. Swirling colors on expansive fantastical planes routinely make an appearance.  She received a degree in visual arts from Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and a master's degree in Education from Universidad Federal de Río de Janeiro. 

Taiye Idahor (1984- ) is a Nigerian artist working in collage, drawing, sculpture, and mixed media. She explores the historic and contemporary place of women in Nigerian society, with special attention to trade, beauty, the environment, and globalization. In recent years, hair has become an important aspect of her work.  Idahor received her Higher National Diploma (HND) in sculpture   Yaba College of Technology Lagos in 2007. 

Tanda Francis is an American artist who created monumental sculptures that aim to change the representation of people in the African diaspora. Much of her work includes large faces and heads. Francis is inspired by rituals and traditions of ancient cultures to help facilitate an understanding of contemporary cultures.  Francis studied graphic design at Drexel University.

Tatyana Fazlalizadeh (1985- ) is an American painter, illustrator, and mixed media artist. Fazlalizadeh's work engages deeply with community engagement and the public sphere. Her site-specific work considers how people, particularly women, queer folks, and Black and brown people, experience race and gender in their immediate environment.  Fazlalizadeh received her BFA from the University of the Arts in 2007.

Tau Lewis (1993- ) is a Canadian artist. Lewis creates sculptures, quilts, and masks using found materials. Her practice is an exercise in spiritual and collective healing through the repetitive process of sewing, carving, and plaster casting. The reuse of materials also references the ingenuity and resourcefulness that immigrant communities exhibit to survive. Lewis’s sculptural portraits draw inspiration from the people around her and her ancestors. 

Tessa Mars (1985- ) is a Haitian artist working across painting and installation. She explores gender, history, and tradition in her practice. Combining painting and sculpture, Mars prompts viewers to consider the Haitian landscape and the geography and its lessons. Using the Haitian Revolution as her starting point, Mars investigates resistance and survival.  Mars received her Bachelor's degree in Visual Arts at Rennes 2 University in France in 2006.