Tiza for short, has been neon tubing for 8 years now, off and on. She has had her own studio for four years now and has been bending steadily since.
HOW IT STARTED
Tiza’s neon journey began at Lili Lakich’s design and fabrication workshop. She took the class a couple of times to learn the fundamentals of sign design and construction. Then, neon artist Michael Flechtner taught her how to bend glass. Tiza expressed her gratitude to both Lakich and Flechtner, for teaching her what she knows.
“ I feel super lucky to call Michael a friend and Mentor,” she said, “He is definitely the most influential person to me in this medium.”
“I love everything about it [neon].” Tiza said, “Working with neon encompasses so many other skills to put together a work from start to finish and all of it is super satisfying.”
HER WORK
Tiza uses biological shapes found in nature to express herself.
“In my artwork my intention is to try and process the different layers of the human condition as woven through all of the different layers of personal worlds, by finding the threads of emotion and beauty that unite us and inspire compassion and empathy.”
Aside from the creativity, Tiza is in love with the tangible progress she can see in her glassworking career.
“I can look at older work and feel the difference in how I think about the glass now, versus how I thought about it then. I feel like It’s a combination of finely tuned motor skills, and small mental breakthroughs that allow progression.”
We want customers to know that no job is too big or too small for us—customers like Tiza who may only need a few pieces of equipment can feel comfortable stopping by for exactly what they need.
“I actually pretty much get 100% of my neon supplies from Abitech. I love working in the smaller diameters of glass and experimenting with colors, and I appreciate that I can buy just a few sticks at a time, or what I need for a project instead of a whole case. I’m always checking to see what colors are in stock every time I go in. Even if I don’t need glass I just buy some anyways.”
Pictured is Tiza’s favorite piece so far, a three dimensional work called "Ember/Armor." This was created for a group show whose theme was ‘war’, or ‘what would you bring into battle with you if you were going to war’ hosted at Tiza’s home gallery, Bermudez Projects.
“I struggled with this idea for a while and finally arrived at a cloak of compassion; something to protect one’s emotional body from committing atrocities that would blur the line between self and enemy. I chose roses for my pattern as I believe they represent compassion.”
Equipment: Roses are made entirely out of Uncoated Cobalt Blue Glass in 8mm, Powered by Ventex Transformers
When Tiza isn’t creating neon magic, she loves to drawing, reading, sewing and going to the movie theater. Again, we are honored to be able to supply neon artists with what they need to keep neon alive.
HOW TO SUPPORT
Follow Tiza on Instagram at @leticiamaria