Today, we’d like to introduce you to El Tapia-Kwan.
Hi El, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers.
In the spring of 2023, DeSantis was at the height of his anti-trans rhetoric and placing persons in power who would yield anti-Trans legislation. I was witnessing my loved ones and myself grieving and trying our best to survive in a volatile political environment while trying to support one another. As a collective, our trans community was struggling medically, financially, emotionally, and interpersonally. I had just dropped out of grad school for Art Therapy and was feeling lost about my purpose in bringing respite to those struggling through creative expression.
I dug into some random multimedia supplies I had stored for several years and found my linoleum blocks, carving tools, ink, and printmaking paper. I had not done any printmaking in a long time and I decided to create a couple of designs to carve, as carving is a soothing way of creating for me. At first, I felt pressure through my internalized “fine art” academic training to create something intricate and visually striking. But I resisted that pressure and chose to go with what I intuitively felt at the time: words of indignation and validation.
I printed several iterations of my words and passed them out at a Trans Community Picnic for free. I encouraged folks to choose between the print designs and colors – giving autonomy and choice when both were being taken away from us on a larger scale. Talking with each person about their interpretation or resonation with my work was fulfilling and felt purposeful. The connection and ice-breaking that came from sharing my prints was the closest I had felt to my community, and I chose to continue it.
There birthed Uppercutt – a series of prints dedicated to Punching Up at the powers that oppress our community with bigotry, misrepresentation, legal punishment, and social stigma. Wearable Resistance By Us, For Us, speaking to the intersectionally marginalized while highlighting the hypocrisy of what larger society deems Good or Evil.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
We have a hard time finding events or markets to sell our work because of its messaging and themes. At general population markets, most families steer clear of our booth once they see the punk aesthetics or anarchist-heavy designs. Some have even come up, flipped through our shirts, and walked away after scoffing, grimacing, or even saying something dismissive or rude to us. Other times, people will question the meaning or reasoning behind some of the symbols or phrases used.
When clarifying the meanings or reasonings behind some of our designs, we have to utilize our own discernment of whether the person asking is safe to disclose personal information to. Since many of our works are related to the Trans Experience or leftist politics, we have to decide within those moments whether it is wise to give that information to persons who may or may not have loaded feelings about either.
As someone who only creates with direct contact with the materials, I have also been pressured to create work “easier, not harder” by digitizing and printing my work through third parties for stickers, shirts, and more. Many folks tell us what we “should” do to monetize our work to the highest capacity, which often doesn’t align with the point of our work or how I choose to create.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I create small batch linocut designs that I then print on different textiles for sale at public and private events. I also teach multimedia art classes through local groups and institutions such as Ceramics at the Tampa Museum of Art. I have historically been a 3D artist working in glass, metal, fiber, and clay. However, I have also done content creation on YouTube for half a decade, performed art in undergrad, been on a Caribbean dance team, choreographed Quince’s, and facilitated online panels on Non-Monogamy and Polyamory.
I don’t believe in creativity as being an inherently “artistic” related term, and consistently encourage my students to consider other problem-solving areas of their life as being creative! (Such as parenting, cooking, swimming, teaching, etc.) I use my experiences of doing work outside of art galleries and studios to break down assumptions about what is art, why it matters, who it is for, and what it does for the creator and audience.
I am most passionate about growing my clientele in my newest service, Creating with Care. Through regular one-hour virtual sessions, I provide support to fellow creatives who are either beginning, shifting, or struggling to create. It is a client-led model informed by my past work and education in mental health and social services; I tailor each session to what my client is bringing into the virtual space that day without judgment or shame. We collaboratively define goals that don’t adhere to what society sees and enforces as success – whether that is capitalizing on your work, showing your work, or being publicly known for what you create.
The shared focus is on what the client needs and wants to create, how their brain, body, relations, and environment impact that, and how to take manageable steps to achieve it. It is not diagnostic, and there are no institutional rules to what we must or must not say or share. It has been a life changing service for me and my current client.
What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
Staying curious and being unafraid to pivot have been my driving forces in defining what success means for me. I was told many ways to determine whether I was successful, and tried my best to achieve and adhere to them. But over time I realized that there is not one vision of success for everyone, and that I am allowed to define it for myself. Better yet – I can hold space for others to learn how define it for themselves.
Being curious allows me to take perceived failures and not automatically throw them away or run away from them. I am able to sit and observe the how, when, and why of what led to unexpected outcomes. And oftentimes, those answers lead me down another path of interest and exploration, which turns into a pivot of focus.
I have lost many expectations and opportunities to achieve what I thought success was, and that helps me be able to unconditionally hold compassion for those who have experienced the same.
Pricing:
- Creating with Care: $30-$50 / hr
- Uppercutt: $5 – $40 average item prices
- Group & Individual Class Commissions
Contact Info:
- Website: 14uppercutts.myshopify.com
- Instagram: @_uppercutt_
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elmarianotapiakwan/
- Other: eltapiakwan.com
