ABOUT | tanasio

BIOGRAPHY

Tanasio Loudermill was born in Toledo, Ohio in 1995. He is a graduate of Toledo Early College High School, where he obtained 60 credit hours of college while obtaining his diploma. He is now a student, pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Film and Video at the University of Toledo. He is an alumni of the Young Artists at Work program of Toledo, where he worked with teams to design murals and benches installed around the city. Landing in Light (2014) was the first short film he produced as a student, and he is currently working on his next, When the Night Speaks, using optical printing and animation techniques. His work includes audio and video production, poetry, occasional photography, and, most recently, new media.

ARTIST STATEMENT

Art has spoken to me ever since I can remember. I always found myself able to become immersed in music, film, and even paintings at the art museum. Meaning, I could always lose myself in it. Find aspects of my identity in it. Once I started to become aware of my own abilities, I began to create my own art. My work represents all the emotions that I have trouble expressing in normal conversation. It comes from my experiences. When I make art, it is reflexive of two things: a story and insight into this sometimes scattered mess of a brain I have. The story could be my own or that of a close friend or associate that I feel I can identify with.

My process with my work is completely dependent on vision. Once the vision comes to mind, I work off of that and let the work take me where it needs to go. A spark flies through my mind, I immediately start writing, and I am unable to stop. Overthinking goes out the window, and every idea that comes to mind is written on the page. Most of these ideas tend to stick, and the work becomes a constant flow of imagination from that point on. Influences play a major role as well. I could be watching a movie or listening to a song, pull out the most minute detail from it that I may even take out of context, and construct a whole new idea from it. Ultimately, I feel that my work should speak to people. After all, it’s not always about me. And sometimes it is not always meant to be understood. In the words of Erykah Badu: “I guess, the wonderful thing about symbology in art is that you don't have to understand it nor like it... One can protest or recreate it or simply be inspired to create an original piece. It's art. It's free. And once it's put into the world, it no longer belongs to the artist.”