View a video about Tanya (here)

Tanya Aguíñiga is a furniture and accessories designer and maker whose work is informed by the complex interactions between San Diego and Tijuana, the cities in which she has spent most of her life. By creating work that explores an objects’ unseen aspect, such as half chairs that rely on the wall to function and whose image is only complete as its shadow is cast upon the wall, Aguíñiga encourages users to reconsider objects they use on a daily basis. While studying design at San Diego State University, she began working as an educator at the San Diego Museum of Art focusing her efforts on diversifying audiences. She also dedicated much of her time to using art as a vehicle for community empowerment. Working with the Border Art Workshop BAW/TAF, an artists’ group that engaged the languages of activism and community–based public art, she created collaborative installations to bring attention to marginalized communities and migrant rights. After earning an MFA in furniture design from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2005, Aguíñiga settled in Los Angeles. She believes in the importance of sustaining the tradition of crafts in our society and promoting ethical consumerism. In her current practice, she is looking to deepen her commitment to ethical design by working with traditional artisans, connecting local craft traditions with a global economy. Aguíñiga was recently named a United States Artists Target Fellow in the field of Crafts and Traditional Arts. Her work has been exhibited from Mexico City to Milan and a permanent room of her work will be installed at the San Diego Children’s Museum in May, 2008.