Today we’d like to introduce you to Fileve Tlaloc Palmer
Hi Fileve Tlaloc, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I am a multigenerational, creole-South African American artist and anthropologist who has lived and worked among the Haudenosaunee for over 15 years. I grew up in New York City and started oil painting with my paternal grandmother when I was 2 years old. I attended City College of NY, where I double majored in anthropology and fine arts; that’s where I fell in love with ceramics, specifically hand-building using slab and coil techniques. At the same time, I taught myself beadwork to connect with my Zulu heritage, and I have since used those skills to create politically-minded works.
I hold a doctorate in anthropology focused on identity formation of post-Apartheid Coloureds (mixed-race people) in KwaZulu-Natal Province. I use visual arts to capture human existence through representations of human and animal bodies using cultural symbols to reflect relationships. My paintings and ceramics speak to the emotional and physical condition of human struggles between power and peace, injustice and freedom, and the intersections of race, geography, and nature. As a multicultural, multiracial person, I journey into human identity and use my anthropological training to engage the public through both direct participation in creation and engaging in public talks and teaching workshops. I continuously work to blend various media to create thoughtful, educational works.
My work has been exhibited across the Midwest, Northeast, South Africa, and Texas. I am a Fulbright Scholar (2011) and a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar (2010) to South Africa, where I completed my doctoral research in visual anthropology. I was the lead photographer in the Stirring the Pot: Bringing the Wanamaker Photos Home (2013-2015) digital repatriation project. Between 2020 and 2022, I managed the Seneca Iroquois National Museum’s Artist-in-Residency program, for which I was awarded the Tricounty Arts Council Program of the Year (2022). I received funding through NYSCA’s Decentralization Grant (2021 & 2022) for a mural featuring local entrepreneurs and a series of ceramic coil pots that incorporates photography and quotes from my dissertation research, and the Support for Artist Grant (2023) for ceramic work. I won the Sylvia L. Rosen Purchase Award (2023) for three pieces from my “Coloured Pots: Izinkhamba kwamaKaladi” series, which joined the Burchfield Penney collection. Led by Dara Friedman, I was part of a collective that was awarded an Anonymous Was A Woman NYFA grant (2024) to promote the “Sky Woman Women” film we created to retell the Haudenosaunee Creation Story. I am an artist-in-residence at First National Bank galleries and studios in Olean, NY and an Appalachian Leadership Institute fellow developing my leadership skills to help our community members thrive rather than just survive. My day job is with a Local Development District office as a regional economic development specialist. One of my duties is to manage the Appalachian Regional Commission Area Development Grant.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It has definitely been a windy road. I have many interests and see myself as being flexible and willing to do what it takes to move to the next level. For instance after completing my doctorate in addition to adjunct teaching anthropology for a local community college, I took a job as a campus bus driver and earned my CDL-B with a passenger endorsement to pay the bills. It was a humbling experience that I took pride in keeping people safe and I learned empathy for drivers who have made driving their career.
When I moved from rural New York I took on a position as an Americorps VISTA as a curriculum developer at Cornell Cooperative Extension. It was a huge pay cut from the Visiting Assistant Professor position I held at Purdue university, but I learned a lot about the region and was able to make wonderful community connections that I have been able to maintain. In my current position with Southern Tier West Local Development District it was a challenge to be in an office all day long. I felt isolated and trapped because I was used to performing and interacting with people. However, as the years have progressed, I have developed strategies to use my anthropology skills to connect with community leaders and participate in innovative projects that help grow community services.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I consider all my work to be creative work, healing work. Whether teaching yoga or social science classes, administering grants or actually making art and collaborating with others it is all creative. It is about building relationships with the audiences, with those being served, guided, empowered. This is how we heal as individuals and communities. When we are able to satisfy our basic needs then we are able to move further on a path to thriving and becoming the best versions of ourselves. And this is the most important aspect of living a creative life to constantly grow and challenge yourself to become better each day.
What do you like and dislike about the city?
I live outside a small city, roughly 10,000 people. I like that it is small and learning how people overlap and work together over decades to improve our region and protect our communities. I love that our city is surrounded by the foothills of the Alleghany Mountains and that the Alleghany River connects our city to the rest of the region. I love that our neighbors and many friends are the Onöndowa’ga:’ People of Great Hill or Keepers of the Western Door known as Seneca and they are gracious in their interactions with newcomers. Something that I wish our city would do better would be to embrace and recognize the importance of the Onöndowa’ga:’ and embrace them rather than compete. When we come from a place of abundance rather than scarcity we can cooperate and all win.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://FileveTlaloc.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fileve_tlaloc/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/southerntierwest/
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/fileve-tlaloc/sets/coloured-pots-izinkamba-amakaladi
