Artist Feature: Tiffany B Chanel
"...everyday people with unapologetic vibrancy..."
Self-taught artist and educator Tiffany B Chanel is driven by passion and purpose. Through her kaleidoscopic portraiture, she depicts pop icons and everyday people with unapologetic vibrancy, and aims to illuminate the inner beauty within each of her subjects.
“Music plays a big part in my creative process. I listen to songs that have to do with love, hurt, joy, pain, and anything that can trigger an emotion. I allow myself to feel everything, replay moments that were hard, embrace new moments in my life, and just be vulnerable in the safest place that I know: my studio. So sometimes I say “I poured my heart out on this painting” and it just means that the emotions allowed me to connect to the subject in a way that can be inexplicable.
My portraits are of real people. Some are well known, some are socialites, some are people who I randomly decided to paint after falling in love with their facial features or maybe I read something about them. I never have to look for inspiration. I am inspired by anything and everything. Thankfully, I just see exactly what I want to do. I have always been moved to bring things to life. I was never content with hearing it is not possible when it came to what I want to do.”
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Emerging artist, Tiffany B Chanel began her artistic career in 2012 designing custom-painted sneakers, before shifting her focus toward fine art portraiture. After an Instagram repost by Tamara Mowry, resulting in one of her works going viral, Tiffany garnered the attention of numerous collectors and immersed herself in New York’s gallery scene. Based out of her Bedford Stuyvesant in-home studio (Studio 422), Tiffany leads monthly “Beyond the Layout” paint-and-sip sessions and is hired by local nonprofits, churches, and schools to facilitate professional development classes for children and adults. She has created several commissioned portraits has been featured in several publications.