artist bio

“Women have always been in the streets… graffiti is just another way of advertising your soul instead of your body.  I believe women, convinced of the possibilities of doing what they love, are extremely powerful.” [1]

Tina Chavera (Clearly)

Is a Mexican-American sculptor and textile graffiti artist born in Texas (1981) and lives in Denver, Colorado. Her work examines socio-­economic, geographic and racial divides through rituals of mending and joining with acts of labor and love.

After moving to London in 2005 she discovered street art and began photographing work in the streets. She later moved to Denver and started making her own mark with stencils and wheat paste when she finished her BA at the University of Colorado (2013). Followed with an MFA at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan, NY (2015) where she encountered Cecila Vicuña and Caledonia Curry (Swoon) both of whom influenced her work.

She draws on her native ancestral heritage to channel healing through a specialized crochet technique that binds natural fibers together. These bundles represent a flow of energies, transferred through her as a conduit.  In order to mend yet not blend, a reminder that there is immense beauty in our differences.

Solo exhibitions include Reverse Space in Brooklyn, NY and Leon Gallery in Denver with group shows in Texas, California, Florida, Colorado and New York.  In 2014 her stencil work appeared in the pilot episode for the series Broad City, and the Denver Public Library has a handmade book of hers in their collection.  She has worked on major installation projects for Swoon Studio at the Brooklyn Museum and Centre d’art urbaine Fluctuart in Paris.