Embassy Suites HOtel & Convention Center

My work explores the intersection of observation and interpretation, drawing inspiration from forms found in nature. Through painting, I investigate how scale, pattern, and perspective can transform familiar subjects into something unexpected. By isolating and enlarging natural forms, I create images that encourage sustained looking and reveal details that often go unnoticed. I am interested in the relationship between perception and understanding, and in how observation shapes the way we experience the world around us. The subjects in my work exist somewhere between documentation and imagination, combining recognizable biological forms with clouds and atmospheric imagery, creating a dialogue between the microscopic and the monumental. These interventions blur the line between natural and artificial, creating images that occupy a liminal space between observation and imagination. 

The use of Latin titles extends these ideas of perception and discovery. Associated with scientific classification, philosophy, and historical record, Latin introduces another layer of meaning while remaining partially obscured to many viewers. Like the paintings themselves, the titles invite curiosity rather than providing immediate answers. The work also considers the experience of being perceived. By presenting subjects at an exaggerated scale and from unconventional viewpoints, I shift the relationship between viewer and subject, creating a sense of presence that makes observation feel more reciprocal. 

At its core, the work examines the relationship between perception and understanding. By focusing on details that are easily overlooked, aiming to create moments of curiosity and wonder while encouraging viewers to become more aware of their own role in perception. 

Tiana’s artwork is on view in the first floor lobby from June 22 - December 5, 2026.