We recently connected with Tekla Taylor and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Tekla, we’re so appreciative of you taking the time to share your nuggets of wisdom with our community. One of the topics we think is most important for folks looking to level up their lives is building up their self-confidence and self-esteem. Can you share how you developed your confidence?
My parents were always incredibly proud of me, and encouraged me to be confident. They had high expectations, which can cut both ways – but my ability to delight, astonish, and impress them showed me that I could do the same wherever I went.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I’m an artist who trained as a historian, and my obsessions glitter wherever I get the chance to spread them. I create paintings that explore femininity, power, and beauty by mixing my own art with collage and found poetry. The words I use on my paintings come from turn-of-the-century polemics that explore “The New Woman” – a person who, I would argue, is still being invented every day by incredible women around the globe, especially trans women. By juxtaposing images of feminine glamour with texts that center women’s and queer experience, my work pushes audiences to think more deeply, and to see women and feminine individuals as fully human.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
First, as an artist: Keep showing up at the blank page. For me, once I’m at the page, I create things. But I will spend all day agonizing over what I haven’t even made yet. I try to organize my whole life to encourage me to show up at that page.
Secondly: connect with others. Make friends with fellow artists and you’ll learn more than you can ever imagine. Plus, you’ll have wonderful friends, and those relationships are our whole reason for being. It’s impossible to create in isolation.
Thirdly: study what you love. I’m not necessarily talking about an academic background here, but instead to let yourself get obsessed with the art that grabs you. Read about it, deeply and voraciously. Learn what makes it tick, from techniques to historical context to the artist themselves.
What’s been one of your main areas of growth this year?
I’ve really improved in how I talk to myself. (Not out loud, though no judgment to those who do!) But I realized that much of my internal monologue was very judgmental and negative. I would often think of something I wanted to do, and then immediately find reasons not to do it. “It won’t be good, it’ll take too long, I can’t do it well enough,” and so on. I’ve been noticing that impulse much more, and redirecting that into a kinder path.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/teklataylor
- Instagram: instagram.com/tekline
- Other: @tekla on Bluesky!
