Our guest today is Tiffany Smith. Tiffany is an interdisciplinary artist from the Caribbean diaspora working in photography, video, installation, and assemblage. In this episode we talk about Tiffany’s upbringing in the Bahamas and Miami, her long and winding journey to photography, how to advocate for yourself, how to escape the hustle and find a place that is right for you, and the complex dynamics of Black Caribbean identity in the U.S.

Guest Bio:

Tiffany Smith (she/her) is an interdisciplinary artist from the Caribbean diaspora working in photography, video, installation, assemblage, and design to define spaces and experiences that examine the roles of visitor and native and parse the definition of home. Using plant matter, design elements, pattern, and costume as cultural signifiers, Smith creates environments that are informed by the histories of representation, diasporic identity, and liminality. 

Smith’s work examines individual narratives pulled from an array of multi-cultural influences and derived from her upbringing in Miami, Nassau, and Jamaica. Searching for new perspectives on dominant historical narratives, she studies how communities of people of color are formed and defined; in particular, how they are identified and represented, and how they persist. 

Smith earned her B.F.A. in Photography from Savannah College of Art and Design and her M.FA. in Photo/Video from School of Visual Arts. Her work lives in various private and public collections, and has been exhibited internationally, including solo exhibitions at The Bronx Museum of Arts, NY; The Wassaic Project, NY; Recess Assembly, Brooklyn, NY; and Montserrat College of Art, Beverly, MA. She has also exhibited at the New Orleans Museum of Art, the National Art Gallery of the Bahamas, MassArt, and the National Gallery of Jamaica. Smith is a former NYSCA/NYFA Interdisciplinary Artist Fellow, a Bronx A.I.M. Fellow, an EnFoco Photography Fellowship Awardee, a Cameron Visiting Artist at Middlebury College, and a resident artist at TILT Institute for the Contemporary Image in Philadelphia. She currently resides in New Orleans, LA.

Show Notes:

Tiffany’s Work:

• Earthseed solo exhibition at The Bronx Museum of the Arts, Bronx, NY
  • “Semi Permanent Space: A Moment of Rest” installation
  • “Caribbean Queen” photo
• For Tropical Girls… exhibition at The Wassaic Project, Wassaic, NY
  • Title inspired by the poem by Ntozake Shange
• Album photos for collaboration with Lollise
• A Woman, Phenomenally
  • Photo of Miranti: “Alien Woman, Indonesian By Birth,” 2015
  • “Miss USA?” single channel video, 6:24, 2015

Other References:

• Paradice Palase artist network
• Julia Tuttle, the “Mother of Miami”
• Moonlight film (2016)
• Tiffany’s professor Keren Moscovich
• Underground System band
• Lollise’s “Iron Woman” music video
• Mickalene Thomas’ photos of Cardi B

Credits:

• Cover photo of Tiffany by Fela Raymond.
• Edited by Amanda Dee and mastered by Cedric Wilson.
• Theme music by The Necklace, a project by Taylor Shields and Morgan Võ.

Sound Credits:

• Medium-heavy spaceship fly-by by Anoesj – https://freesound.org/people/Anoesj/sounds/345794/ – License: Attribution 4.0
• Jorge R Alien Hover by jorgereq – https://freesound.org/people/jorgereq/sounds/592722/ – License: Creative Commons 0
• Dreamy Ambient Atmosphere for Relaxation by Matio888 – https://freesound.org/people/Matio888/sounds/797771/ – License: Attribution 4.0
• peep2.WAV by phantastonia – https://freesound.org/people/phantastonia/sounds/337439/ – License: Creative Commons 0
• Dreamy bells.wav by danyourmaster – https://freesound.org/people/danyourmaster/sounds/433654/ – License: Creative Commons 0