Tiffany Adler
Tiffany Adler’s artistic journey is a testament to the power of reinvention, persistence, and self-discovery. Growing up in a law enforcement household, creativity wasn’t an obvious path. Yet, her father’s background in English literature and her mother’s resourcefulness instilled in her an appreciation for analysis, adaptability, and the pursuit of personal fulfillment. While her early years were shaped by practicality, Adler found herself drawn to the world of design and architecture, eventually channeling that passion into a full-fledged artistic practice.
Her education in Interior Architecture at James Madison University opened up a world of creative possibilities. Immersed in foundational art courses, she discovered a love for abstraction and three-dimensional form-making. This pursuit led her to the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc), where she studied in an institution known for its avant-garde approach to design. Inspired by the likes of Frank Gehry and guided by her thesis advisor, Andrew Zago, Adler embraced the intersection of art and architecture, focusing on material experimentation and conceptual form-making.
Despite this deep engagement with architecture, she soon realized that the profession itself was not the right fit. During her time at various firms, she sought creative fulfillment elsewhere—exhibiting artwork in Los Angeles galleries and producing an experimental art film that gained recognition at international film festivals. After experiencing multiple layoffs in the architecture industry, Adler made the bold decision to commit fully to her artistic practice.
Her work is a dialogue between sculpture and photography, mediums that serve as both exercises in perspective and material explorations. Early projects like Fuck Your Pedestal reimagined classical representations of the body through a feminist lens, utilizing photography as a means of subversion. This exploration of form and identity continued in Vitruvian Woman, a photographic series challenging Leonardo da Vinci’s idealized proportions, and Form Fitting, an experimental sculptural series inspired by the question: “What would feminist art look like if sexism didn’t exist?”
Through these projects, Adler pushes beyond traditional frameworks, embracing irregularity and entropy in her sculptural practice. Using materials that evolve over time—wheatpaste, wireframes, and paper skins—she creates bodies that age, change, and become more beautiful in their imperfection. Her work transcends binaries, questioning societal constructs and inviting viewers of all genders to engage in a discourse on identity, embodiment, and resistance.
Artist residencies have been pivotal in her growth, providing dedicated time for artistic exploration and fostering a sense of community with fellow creators. She values the connections made through these experiences as much as the work itself, seeing success not in commercial validation but in the ability to reach and resonate with others.
Adler remains deeply conscious of external pressures and trends but resists the trap of creating for the zeitgeist. Instead, she embraces the belief that all art made in the present is inherently relevant. By engaging with film and art theory, she gains fresh perspectives that help her navigate the cultural landscape without losing sight of her own creative vision.
Her advice to emerging artists is simple yet profound: find joy in creating, even in moments of uncertainty. Trust the process, and the universe will continue to give.
