STEFANIA TEJADA

Stefania Tejada was born in Tuluá, Colombia. 1990. Since a very young age education was a fundamental aspect for her family, especially her mother. She always found herself being busy exploring through music instruments, drawing and painting classes, literature, foreign languages and sports. But above all, drawing and painting always remained a constant in her life. Botero was her first influence. Literature had an extensive impact as well, in her work and her views of the world. From here she developed the ability to move beyond the reality imposed and to have the opportunity to create her own narrative. When she moved to Bogotá to attend college, in 2008, to study Fashion Design is when she started to have a wider view of the world of fashion and art. A close friend, at the time, introduced her to the work of Alexander McQueen and her obsession with him made her very curious. She attended the exhibition of his work at the MET years later and started to understand a lot about his perception and purpose towards women. His quote: “I want people to be afraid of the woman I dress” really spoke to her. Coming from a very traditional land, women weren’t really able to express these kind of emotions. This way of thinking started to open the door of the hidden discomfort she had been caring. She understood that a woman can also be powerful, aggressive, and wild. She also feels complete admiration for the work of Henri Rousseau, Hilma af Klint, Paul Gauguin, and Yayoi Kusama. This last one really made her understand the power behind knowing who you are as a human being, your capabilities and how to accept certain conditions and accept change in order to move forward. Her desire to become an artist came years after, while she was living in México in 2014. Stefania lives in Paris since 2020 and during her career she has worked with brands like Nike, Adidas, Marie Claire France, Dom Pérignon, Elle, Samsung, Cartier, to mention a few.

 

Stefania’s work is a play on possibilities, she reinterprets moments in history, breeding new life into established imagery: Eve and her relationship with the snake has captivated the artist since a very young age. e artist creates a visual language in her paint stripping stigmatized concepts with a new meaning. A signature of her work is the piercing gaze of women staring back at the viewer, they are intended to reveal the deepest and darkest emotions that come along with being a woman in today’s world. Her poetic and enigmatic scenes become metaphors that call back to nature as the source of all life and knowledge. The pieces are intended to stare at us, to haunt us, planting an inception of questions along the way through the codifying language displayed within each piece. Tejada has exhibited her work in New York, Bogotá, Mexico City, London and Paris.

In 4 words, describe your PERSONA:
<<Curious, obsessive, passionate and awakened >>

Hobbies:

Painting, literature, traveling, gastronomy, writing and film photography.

@stefaniatejada