Hi, I’m Theresa P-Tan

I’m an Ecuadorean/Puerto Rican mixed media artist originally from Brooklyn, NY, now living and creating in Durham, NC.

My path began in education. I earned a Master of Arts in Education from Columbia University’s Teachers College and spent years teaching in New York City public schools, focusing on inclusive elementary education. While teaching, I nurtured my passion for art, earning a Certificate in Fine Arts from Parsons School of Design and participating in numerous workshops to refine my craft.

In 2016, I relocated to Durham, NC, where I transitioned from my role as an educator to a full-time artist. My work blends my multicultural heritage and rich experiences, creating pieces that resonate with vibrant narratives and layered textures.

I've had the privilege of serving as a teaching artist with The Durham Arts Council and The Carrboro ArtsCenter, sharing my expertise and inspiring others through workshops. My art has been showcased in venues including Golden Belt Art Campus (Durham, NC), The Durham Arts Council (Durham, NC), The ArtsCenter (Carrboro, NC), and Diamante Arts & Cultural Center (Raleigh, NC).

I am a former member of FRANK Gallery in Chapel Hill, NC, and my work has sold at The North Carolina Museum of Art’s Museum Shop. I continue to explore and share my mixed media creations, rooted in cultural storytelling and a lifelong love for education and art.

Statement

My mixed media abstractions, landscapes, and textile-inspired pieces are deeply rooted in the duality of my lived experiences — the bold, urban energy of Brooklyn where I was raised, and the quiet beauty I encounter in nature through my everyday life in North Carolina, and in my travels.

In my work, I explore the tension between chaos and calm as a way of making sense of a world that often feels overwhelming. I’m drawn to life’s dualities—where hardness meets softness, beauty confronts ugliness, and light dances with shadow. Through layered textures, colors, and marks, I purge emotion and process my own inner landscape.

Central to my practice are process, play, teaching, and learning—all of which inform both the act of creation and the spirit behind it. My studio is a space of experimentation and discovery, where curiosity leads and mistakes are embraced as vital steps in the journey. Through teaching and continual learning, I deepen my understanding of materials and methods while nurturing the same in others. Working with acrylic paints, collage, and layered marks from pencils, pastels, and other mediums, I build textures that I hope evoke depth, emotion, and a sense of curiosity. Each mark is an inquiry—a “what if?”—as I move intuitively, balancing instinct and reflection until the piece resonates with a sense of resolution and rest.

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