The Polychromatic Psyche of Talya Whyte
Talya, the artist. (AKA Yaya)
Talya Whyte is a 21 year old artist born and raised in Montgomery Alabama, she is the youngest of six siblings, and daughter of immigrant parents. Her ancestry has shaped the focus and the overall sentiment of her work, which focuses on various political issues such as Race, Women’s and LGBTQ Rights and Immigration.
“My mom is Jamaican and my dad is from Guyana and he grew up in Trinidad, so all of that, I think, them being immigrants and then growing up in a city like Montgomery, that has such history with the civil rights movement, is really instrumental in like shaping my beliefs and it definitely changed, evolved as I’ve grown up and learned new things, right, so all of that definitely plays between me and my art and my message”, she explained.
Art and social justice have been present in her life since childhood. Her mother still has drawings of when she was 8 years old, and Talya has considered herself an artist since then.
“I've just always been that someone that is drawing things, like I think that makes me understand the world a little bit better, to like draw it or paint it”.
Color, Paint & Justice.
As Talya grew older, she started reading about Art History and Color Theory and found a way to integrate Neurosciences and Psychology into her paintings, which led her to define a unique style. Her signature strokes are filled with vibrant colors, distorted facial features, some black outlines. Expressions and emotions are clear in her paintings, as well as her inspiration in sound, sight and human senses in general. She mentioned:
“I'm really interested in Psychology and Neurosciences as well, and senses and how people sense their way through the world is absolutely fascinating to me. So things like color, and movement and sound and the ways that every single person experiences them differently is absolutely fascinating… Especially color. Color theory is a big part of my art and how color is such a big way to show emotion even in daily life without art”.
Talya’s website and Instagram profile are evidence of her life-long commitment and passion towards social justice:
“So I think being a black woman and growing up in a place like Montgomery alabama, immediately, that gives me a deep connection to these issues. Because for a lot of these issues I see myself in them. With the Black Lives Matter movement it's like, that could be me, that could be my brother. With feminism I see myself and I see my niece, and I'm like ok I've been through these things and I want to do what I can to make it a little bit better so maybe she’s not having to go though everything that I did”.
Her latest work is a series of 12 portraits featuring prominent Black figures in the History of science and engineering, such as chemist Betty Washington Greene and astronaut Ronald McNair. The paintings could remind us of Picasso’s painting from 1937 “Guernica”, but with a clear appreciation of the protagonist’s expressions. Another example of her trademark are the portraits of important figures in social movements, like Angela Davis and Malcolm X; all in multifaceted styles, brush strokes and line work that can easily conduct us to a state of contemplation, due to the formation of shapes through contrasting colors and tinted shading.
They all carry insight regarding human life and the permanent seek of equality and justice, as well as personal stories, including hers.
Talya has been explicit about her devotion to the most vulnerable, she believes in the power of listening and empathy. A much needed characteristic in societies, especially with the most marginalized groups, since, according to Talya, “they're the ones that normally don't have this space to tell their story”, such as the LGBTQ community, indigenous groups and people that have “historically been pushed aside” in this country.
Advocating for these kinds of causes are a heavyweight task, undeniably draining due to the conditions of the world we live in, nonetheless, Talya naturally seeks for an optimistic approach to these topics.
Conversations with the soul.
Talking to Talya, makes it easy to perceive how much light and color she irradiates by herself, that's when the nature of her work makes sense. This also hinted in her self portraits, what she describes, are a way to get to know herself and document a process of growth. As well as an exercise of self discovery and personal interpretation of her own psyche. Or a dialogue between her subconscious and her conscious self:
“It's really just what I'm feeling in the moment and that translates… putting it on the canvas makes it even more legible for me. You know so it’s weird, it's a very personal process. I'll get to the end of it and I step back and ‘I'm like woah how did that happen? Ok Talya what's going on today?”.
Besides inner dialogue through painting, Talya initiates conversations. To the degree to be considered a social media educator, since she brings up discussions about relevant subjects, as well as crash courses in simplified phrases and questions “Are you more concerned with your comfort under capitalism or the true pursuit of Black liberation?”, “Is your system of self validation sustainable?” she asks in handwritten notes on Instagram.
Talya explains her educational project as a collective contribution of knowledge. In her own words; “I think that every single person in this world has something to offer because everyone in this world knows something that you don't know so I'm just trying to offer why I have”. It serves as a response to the traditional system of education, in which the roles are played vertically, “I've always thought education should be a reciprocal experience, a give and take even with teachers and students,in a formal setting like that. Because again I think everyone has something to offer”.
How it pays off
It is imaginable that an artist that is devoted to a praxis of social justice, may encounter challenges when it comes to exchanging their works for money. It is a common factor among creators that stand against pursuing capitalism’s idea of “success” --for example, attempts to measure an artist's success through the money in their bank account, the value of their work or the number of followers on social media--. Talya has experienced it and sees it as:
“It almost feels like tour putting a value on yourself, or on your thoughts or your feelings, I've been working to separate those two things, at least on the business side of it. If you want to eat you have to make money, and in order to make money you have to work within this terrible system”.
She highlighted the importance of reciprocating to her communities: “I think that's why it's such a big thing when I started selling art, just making sure that I’m donating. I want that to always be a part of what I do, it's important to me, that's kinda the little balance I’m giving myself, like ‘OK if I'm making money out off of this, I should be giving back to someone else’, because, you know, we all have to help each other”.
Talya's website: https://www.talyapaints.com/
