Tyler Wynne is a multimedia artist currently living in Chicago, Illinois pursuing a graduate degree at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She is a second year grad in the Ceramics department and is expected to graduate with her MFA May of 2024. She got her BFA from the University of Texas at Tyler and was a part of their post baccalaureate program before being enrolled at SAIC. Her work deals with otherness, the connection between humans and animals, the contradictions of the human experience and how the things of our childhood shape who we are as adults.
2023, Paper, colored pencil, watercolor, pen, ceramic, 13 x 10 x 3 in.
2022, Terra cotta clay and low fire glazes, 13 x 15 x 17 in.
2023, Acrylic on canvas, 40 x 27 in.
2023, Oil on paper, 18 x 24 in.
My art focuses on the connection between humans and animals. How throughout history humans have put human attributes and ideals onto animals that don’t necessarily relate to how they actually are in the wild. How these stereotypes of animals have persisted to the present defining what animals are deserving of protection or disdain. As a black woman I understand the history of black people not having their humanity acknowledged and being compared to animals. Growing up in a predominantly white area, from an early age I knew that I was different from my other classmates and tried my best to blend in. I was interested in fantasy and animated media, but didn’t have a lot of representation so I began relating to animal characters more than the human ones. I related to monsters that were othered by the narrative and who longed to just belong and be accepted. My work uses these recognizable subjects to explore the natural contradictions of the human spirit. That there is beauty in horror, comedy in tragedy and complexity in simplicity. I reference imagery from pop culture and morph it into my own mythology and create my own narrative. My art lives between a yearning to return to the familiar and escape to the fantastical. My work is messy, structured and personal to my experiences but also meant to connect to people in a multitude of ways.