Meet Tania Chaidez Ibarra | Artists

We had the good fortune of connecting with Tania Chaidez Ibarra and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tania, why did you pursue a creative career?
Creating is our passion. Both have been working all around, from big corporations to nonprofits, but the day-to-day felt like living a fake life. I was leading marketing teams, and my job consisted of pushing people to spend their money and convincing them to believe what the head of the business wanted. I had a good salary, but I wasn’t true to my values and passion. I even got sick after a few burnouts. After facing a close death in the family, life slapped me in the face, and I finally woke up. I realized that living a fake life is never worthed, that I was forcing myself into modern slavery. At this time, Alan (my partner in life and books) was already working at Errant Press, so I grew to value and quit to become a full-time artist — with a lot of gig jobs around, haha —.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Errant Press started in 2020 to publish books that challenge the traditional book forms and reading dynamics. It started over our kitchen counter when Alan bound some of his poems into a matchbook as a gift for me. Now, Alan and I work together to create, develop, print, and distribute our material, still making most of the process in our apartment. Our work combines conceptual practices, literature, and experimentation over the limits of the book. Aside from our publishing practice, we collaborate with more Latin American artists by translating and distributing their work in the U.S., using a circular business model that allows them to grow in the short term. Today, we work with Catalina Kobelt from Argentina, Karla Barracuda from Peru, Nico González from Chile, and Johnny Video and Alfonso Santiago from Mexico.
Aside from our art and collaborations, we use Errant Press as a vehicle to create a community around books. Last year, we hosted three book clubs about the color blue. We also collaborated with institutions like the Los Angeles Public Library, San Antonio Public Library and Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center by organizing free workshops, conferences, zine fests, and panel discussions.
As a self-taught artist who recently migrated (2019) to the U.S., Errant Press has been crucial to my personal development: it meant an opportunity to create human connections, meet new people, make friends, discuss important issues, and hug and care for other humans in the middle of this bridge, that are books.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Eat: Yuko’s Kitchen Drink: JJan Gastropub & Go Pocha in Koreatown
Visit: LA Public Library, Getty Villa, Marciano Art Foundation
Hang: Playa del Rey & Venice Beach Side Walk

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I am so grateful to my partner, Alan. He helped me grow courage and invited me to be part of Errant Press. I also want to thank the wonderful Cheri Rae for inspiring me to follow my path. She host Peace Yoga in DTLA.
Two books that helped me a lot during this time were Lost in Work by Amelia Horgan and Become What You Are by Alan Watts.

Website: https://errant.press/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/errant.press/

Image Credits
Courtesy of Errant Press