Tia Halliday uses performance, photography and dance as a way of physically negotiating paradigms of painterly abstraction. Her performances, or performed paintings, are a mode of generative research; to analyze, create and pose questions about the body’s relationship to painting and sculpture. She would physically perform and choreograph common painterly tropes such as edge, flatness, depth and rhythm with the use of the body under dynamically sewn fabric cloaks or “sheaths.” These sheaths mimic being underneath the skin of a painting. Beneath the intricately sewn garments, which include fabrics that both stretch and remain taught, props such as poles and harnesses are used to augment a sense of performed movement, the presence of the body and two-dimensional pictorial shape.
Halliday’s inquiry yields many forms of creative artifact and evidence of process. Photographs of the performances are then digitally collaged to become large-scale photographic artworks. In addition to these photo works, she created a series of paintings on canvas and drawings on paper, directly informed by the performance. These works were material- based reflections and translations of both the collage, photo, choreography and performance work.
Tia Halliday was born in Calgary Alberta. She received a BFA in distinction from the Alberta College of Art and Design, attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and obtained an MFA from Concordia University. Halliday has exhibited her work in solo and group exhibitions and performance projects across Canada, the U.S.A and Europe. Her work has been highlighted in The Globe and Mail, The Washington Post, and Canadian Art. Tia is the daughter of the late Canadian abstract painter Richard Halliday RCA. Tia Halliday is currently a tenure-track Instructor of visual art and theory at the University of Calgary's Department of Art.
For more information about Halliday’s work visit her website or follow her on Instagram.
If Eyes had Feet: The Kinesthetic Pictorial // Interpetive Essay by Kait Strauss
How is dance defined? A performance, a sequence of steps, choreography, motion. A juxtaposition of movement and stillness, of fluidity and rigidity.
How do we define visual art? Sculptures, paintings, architecture, and drawings. The variances of smooth and rough shapes, colours, and patterns.
Now combine the two and we arrive at Tia Halliday’s performed abstractions. Right away the viewer is drawn to that which is relatable to oneself: the feet and legs. More than a sculpture or shapes on a canvas, these works blend movement and art and showcase dancers “within the skin of the painting.” By incorporating the human form into her work, Halliday allows the observer to immediately form a connection with many of her pieces.
In creating these works, Halliday has worked with trained dancers, directing them and encouraging non-verbal communication to explore different shapes and tensions with the body. Sheaths of fabric of varying tautness and elasticity draped over the dancers, enhance the visual experience. The majority of the works showcase only the legs and feet of the human form. While the rest of the dancers’ bodies are hidden under an eclectic collection of sewn fabrics, we are left to admire the piece, to feel the work as a whole. It ignites a sense of curiosity about the extremities and allows us to imagine the positioning of the rest of the body beneath. Perhaps one can make out an elbow, or a knee, or the luxurious curve of a back. For some works, additional props were used to generate more rigid shapes of broader reach. Though we are witnessing a frozen moment within these photographs, the artist wishes to encourage our minds to experience the journey of reaching those points. By combining dance and visual art, Halliday has created pieces that come alive before the eyes of the viewer. Envision the improvisational movements; the dancers pulling the fabrics tight around their bodies in one instance and in the next, allowing a breath of air to create a bubble, an entirely different dynamic.
Through these works, Halliday has been exploring the idea of a “moving painting.” When speaking with the artist about the creative process, we discussed learning about visual art in a classroom setting. Instructors push their students to create works with dynamism. Work that shows a “push vs pull” relationship. The same principles ring true in the realm of dance. Contract vs release. Fall and recover. Plié deeper to create a higher jump. When considered in that sense, one realizes the use of opposition is a major player in both art forms.
Halliday successfully steps outside of the box to create vibrant, contemporary, performance art. The beauty, strength, power, and grace of dancers has been delicately blended with her eye for dynamic paintings and sculpture to create a visual feast for observers.
Kait Strauss has an extensive dance background and obtained my Bachelor’s of Performing Arts degree from Oklahoma City University.