Tyler Cala Williams on Their Teetering Between the Digital and Reality, Anime and How Neurodiversity Plays Appears in Their Work

by Rubén Palma
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Tyler Cala Williams, is an American artist, based in New York and New Jersey. They were born and raised in Trenton, New Jersey. Williams graduated in 2020 from Parsons, The New School where they received their BFA in Photography. Williams creates surreal self portraiture using digital software like photoshop to address appropriation in western traditional art movements and the nuances of the subjugated black.

Hi Tyler! It’s a pleasure to sit down with you! First question that I always ask. How does a regular day look like for you in New York and New Jersey?

HEYYY, the pleasures mine! So, at the moment I am currently in Savannah. My day consists of me first making some elaborate caffeinated drink to get me going. While I’m waking up, I journal and do some prayers at my altar. Then I would usually head straight to my studio out here and answer emails/apply to a bunch of art-related opportunities. That usually takes up a good chunk of my morning, so by noon, I start creating art (digital or airbrush or painting). By the time I get home, I usually read or watch a horror movie to unwind (ironically, horror calms me down, lol). 

I’m curious. Growing up, what kind of kid were you, what did you enjoy doing and how did you spend your time?

Hmm, I would say I was the quiet type. I enjoyed my personal time alone, just watching people around me. For fun, before I got into anime and video games, I spent a lot of time tinkering with random things in my house. I would always break things open to see how it worked and create these imaginary machines from small pieces of things i broke apart.

I know that you’re big into anime and shows like: Dragon Ball-Z, Pokémon and Death Note. Can you tell me about that? And what do you think it is about cartoons that resonates so well with you?

Funny enough, I’ve never really been into those animes in particular like that. I just really align myself with what they represent socially. Growing up, anime wasn’t really popular. So I would get stickers and posters of stuff like that to just show my friends that I know about anime lol. My dad actually got me into anime, so I would watch a lot of his favorites (Ghost in The Shell, Akira, Perfect Blue, Beserk, NGE). I grew up thinking anime was just like adult cartoons, and I would always have to sneak to watch his old tapes. It wasn’t until I saw kids in my class playing with Pokemon cards that I realized it was also a big thing for kids too. 

Do you remember how old you were and how you got introduced to the different graphic design programs? And which programs do you use now?

I started with Photoshop. I was a freshman in high school and a part of the visual/performing arts community (communities were basically like your major). I took a photography class, and yeah, I just started to fuck around with random pictures of the internet. Like making collages and editing Tumblr esc photos for my friends who were into fashion. My teacher didn’t care what I was working on as long as I did something, so I spent a lot of my class time doing that. 

What made you gravitate towards 3D, CGI and animation, and not something more traditional like painting for example?

Well, before I started even doing these paintings I do now, I went from Photoshop straight to Maya for my undergrad thesis. I’m just returning to it now. Also, I think that there is so much to be explored within the digital art world right now. Things like 3D, CGI always interest me because of how close people have made them to mimic reality. I would essentially do the same thing in my photography (play with people’s perception), so I wanted to try doing that with another medium that does just that. 

The exploration of the African-American experience is a recurring theme in your work. Can you tell me about that? Why is that important for you to document?

I’m a Black person from America, so I believe everything I do will inevitably reflect that. I grew up to be aware of my blackness and its social/historical meanings, so it’s just something I am constantly thinking about.  

You’ve been pretty open about having struggled with mental health. Can you tell me about that? And how has it influenced your work?

Sure. So I’m autistic and schizophrenic (prob a lot more there). I’ve learned that this world doesn’t want people to talk about their mental health/neurodivergence. I’ve grown to see these differences are not something negative or positive, it just is. And that they are probably a taboo to keep the current dominant systems of power running. Some people see me as being earnest about it all, maybe. It’s exhausting to pretend we are all mentally the same.   

The various dreamlike and surreal scenes in your work. What’s the story behind them?

Honestly, there are different stories for each one. At first, they were collages of work that resonated with my emotional state at the time. Now, I have started trusting my own point of view when creating work. I still collage images into my art for conceptual reasons now, just not as often. But I believe the surreal scenes I create are like the act of remembering. It looks far removed from reality because memories are never really fully truths. I believe memories are tricky and are like photos in their reliability. They are both representations of something. So for me, the dreamlike quality of my work is from my memories taking new forms. Visual and mental perspectives shift, specific body parts are hyper-focused on, and a newer (sometimes more wonky version) of memory is “actualized.”   

Same thing goes for the various motifs and characters. Who are they? And what do you look for when choosing your next protagonist?

I was really hesitant to answer this question because I get asked it often and never really wanted the subjects to be read as different characters. But, recently I’ve been in this very intense psychotic episode (finally coming out of it), and during it, I noticed how my hallucinations manifest as voices. It wasn’t until this year that I caught myself responding to one of the voices out loud in public (pretty embarrassing lol) that I began to acknowledge these voices as not consciously my own. There are very violent and malicious voices, a very tender and timid one, and a couple of arrogant voices. I haven’t fully identified them yet, but maybe someday. Right now, though, I am really into subjects that aren’t me and whose faces are concealed somehow. I’m mostly focusing on their poses.    

Can you tell me about what fashion and style means to you, and how it’s reflected in your work?

The clothes I incorporate into my work are as much subjects as the models. I believe style is another form of communication (there is this really good YT video of my autistic sibling Rian Phin speaking on the semantics of style and its importance, check it out here, love her!). In the near future, I might start giving each of these “voices” their own distinct style. I don’t know, though, yet.

With that in mind. What are you hoping to convey to us viewers?

In regards to fashion and style, I want my viewers to see the style and associate the outfits with specific kinds of lifestyles and ethos. Some of the outfits give nightlife club girls, some give grown aunties, and others are playful and childlike. It all depends on the memory and narrative.

Can you walk me through your creative process, from beginning to end result?

Definity, I start with a photo, recreating a memory through photography or an image I find (via the internet, in a book, a still from a movie, surveillance cameras, and other random places). Then I digitally render the image either as a painted photoshopped image or 3D rendering. Once I am satisfied with the scene I make digitally, I print the work and add some details with oil paint or airbrush. Lastly, I take a photo of it so the work can move back into the digital space. From there, I either leave it to be or just restart the process.

How do you deal with creative blocks?

I listen to music and take a few shots of vodka lol 

In a parallel universe who would you be? and what would you be doing?

I would like to believe the parallel universe is just straight-up pure matter. Enjoying being free from any confines.

Can you tell me a story about a time when a connection with someone had a big impact on you?

I would say the day I met my friend Tahjia Brantley. They’re a very intentional and thoughtful writer, thinker, and artist who I went to high school with. I think they are someone who are meticulous with their words and put language to the emotionally intense and, at times, dreadfully mundane reality they live. Anytime I speak to them or read their work I feel like I am always feeling her words live in my own body. I am grateful to any black queer person who is willing to be vulnerable, not just in their craft, but every day within this harsh world.  

Anybody you look up to?

Shout out to Aria Dean!! My work is taking a new form because of this woman.

What motivates you?

Freedom mostly.

Alright Tyler. I always ask these two questions at the end of an interview. The first is. What’s your favorite movie(s) and why?

I watch so many movies, but at the moment I would say I Saw The TV Glow, Ghost in The Shell (original movie) or anything Brandon Cronenberg.

The second is. What song(s) are you currently listening to the most right now? 

While I type this, I am listening to Actress New Album and a friend’s (North Naim) song, River.

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