Tonia Calderon, born in San Jose, California in 1987, is a visual artist based in Los Angeles. She seeks poetry in everyday life, aiming to offer a shared experience of the beauty of being human. Her work reflects her Mexican, Dutch, Indonesian, and Chinese heritage. In her large-scale paintings, she explores life's complexities through abstract compositions using natural materials and chemical elements.
Each of Calderon's pieces begins with a handwritten stanza, setting the tone for a layered process in which flower pigments, natural materials, and contrasting chemical compounds intertwine. This blend of the natural and synthetic reveals the delicate balance between the beauty and fragility of existence, capturing life's rhythms through textured layers and intricate details.
Calderon has collaborated with brands such as BMW, Nike, Tommy Hilfiger, and Forbes 30-Under-30, extending her creative vision across global platforms. These partnerships reflect her belief that art can inspire, connect, and tell stories that resonate across cultures and spaces.
Whether exploring the interplay of light and color, the movement of forms, or the relationship between nature and science, Calderon's work invites viewers to pause, reflect, and engage with the world in new ways.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2025 Unlearning: Vielmetter Gallery, Los Angeles, California
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2019 Heart Of: Cleveland Museum of Contemporary Art, Cleveland, Ohio
2009 Hybridity: San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, California
FAIRS
2024 Art Basel, Miami, Florida
INSTALLATIONS
2022 Fragments of Again by Tonia Calderon x Spencer Guilburt: BMW Welt and Museum, Munich, Germany
2021 A Dozen Roses by Tonia Calderon: St. Regis Resort, Aspen, Colorado