Tyler Worthington

Nov 20, 2023 | Art Residents

We conducted this season’s resident interviews digitally to coordinate with staff scheduling. Please find Tyler’s responses to our questions below. 
 
You can learn more about Tyler’s work and follow along here: 
 

Tell us about yourself and your practice.

I am a multidisciplinary artist currently living in Tennessee. I have no allegiance to any medium or any style. I just do whatever suits the work best. I am interested in digital communication, be it with traditional media, social media, or interpersonal, typically with a sardonic sense of humor. My presumption as to why I took up being an artist in the first place was because I was told to “be myself” one too many times as a child and have been paying for it ever since.

Can you talk about your background and how that has shaped your creative practice?

 

Being half Japanese definitely influenced my taste in aesthetics. Though I’ve never done it, I’ve always been deeply fascinated with kintsugi pottery – the process of repairing a broken dish or cup and repairing it while emphasizing the cracks. That as well as wabi-sabi philosophically appealed to me and my taste in aesthetics. I love celebrating the odd, the ugly, and what would not be traditionally considered “good taste” in my art because I crave honesty in expression more than anything else.


What is it about your process that motivates you to keep coming back?

 

It is an ever-evolving learning process where I am both student and teacher. No matter what I’m doing or what my intentions are for the work, I am always intending to gain something new from each work I create.


What do you want people to take away from your work?

 

To laugh and to smile a little for god’s sake.

 

Can you talk about what you’ve been working on during your time at Azule?

 

I’ve never been a painter. I lack the inherent patience for it as well as the dexterity. However, I never fully committed to giving it a full try for the previously mentioned reasons. The opportunity to have space to breathe and experiment was a godsend for putting me in the right headspace for an intimidating personal adventure.

Why is a residency important to you?

 

Working in limited space and with a million distractions at home is challenging enough, but trying to justify time for experimentation is exhausting just thinking about it. Residencies offer the ability to do just that, as well as travel, and to meet other like-minded creatives.

Where do you find inspiration? (Artists, history, personal experiences, specific places, etc.)
 

Craigslist posts, memes, Youtube comments, group chats, industrial equipment, cartoons, Google.

 

What advice would you give a creative who is just starting in their practice?

 
Be kind to yourself. You will not figure it out the first time. You will put a lot of effort into something that will be utterly horrible. You will realize halfway through something that it won’t work. You’ll make the obvious mistakes and even the less obvious mistakes. And that is okay. Failure is a part of the journey, not the end.

Images from Tyler’s time in residence.

 

Courtesy of the artist.