Text by Zhang Lihao

"I deeply feel that there are still some things about women that have not yet been explored, and only one woman can be excavated." (I feel there is something unexplored about woman that only a woman can explore.)
-Georgia O’Keeffe

As we know, under the efforts of many pioneers of the 21st century, women’s social and political and economic status has been significantly improved, and at the same time, art, from authors, content themes to aesthetic thoughts and value judgments, has long been The situation that is dominated by men has also been loosened, which has given birth to many new situations that have never been seen before.

Even so, most women in the contemporary era, especially female artists, still face the established impressions and double standards that are difficult to get rid of today. The same and most direct question of identity. And this is precisely the core of Tavira's artistic creations.

From Madrid, Spain, Tavira has been married to a Taiwan man and has lived here for more than ten years. She is a wife, mother and artist. A similar description is common in today's digital age of globalization, but it is also possible to swim between such diverse roles, so that one begins to think about one's own identity and differences. She does not have an art-related background. Her choice of media is more self-contained, and can span painting, photography, sculpture, and three-dimensional sculptures combining fabrics and composite media. Her main themes are centered on her long-standing concern: when facing a different society, what is the external and internal appearance state that women are forced to adopt.

As she said, she believes that she is not a radical feminist, so she does not deliberately create bold art to try to challenge the prejudices that are still deeply ingrained; however, it is ironic that in order to fight against the male patriarchal social structure, there are often serious contradictions among the female groups.

The women in her art, whether standing or lying, are full of bright and intense colors, and even the clever combination of fabrics such as mesh covers, reveal a rich sense of sensuality. These graphic works with a sense of fashion are portraits that suggest that the two subjective subjects have a direct meeting, rather than a realistic depiction. She even deliberately conceals the images of the face and body parts. The metaphorical visual rhetoric reveals that women sometimes affirm themselves, and occasionally have doubts, and even complex feelings of competition and hatred.

If her graphic works reveals a female group image from a unique female perspective, then the photographs that she picks from everyday life are closer to the literary symbols of dynamism: naked and disabled limbs, fans that are in disrepair, unorganized ropes, and heavy stacks of fabrics... There is no possibility of intertwining the imaginary narrative in the identification of established objects, and there is no doubt that more intimate personal feelings are buried within the images.

From the point of intuition, without too much artificiality, Tavira's works may occasionally reveal some hidden gender political connotations in the face of different genders, but in the end, most of them have female subjects at their centers to tell their life experiences. It is not all sadness and mourning, but it is like the glory of the first opening to gratitude, deeply infecting you and me, regardless of your gender.