Tamara Robertson
Biography
The representational rendering of an object, that is, portraying its outward appearance or shape, is part of the tradition of art. Likewise, creating abstractions has been the aspiration of many artists where often the goal of these works has been to translate reality as a formal device onto an artistic medium.
The objective of my work is not only to use abstraction as a formal device, but to investigate how abstraction is shaped by my personal vision through the connection of my intuitive processes and formal strategies. My goal is to make use of abstraction to allow expressively elevated, poetic imagery to emerge and discover unpremeditated narratives. This is achieved by using my invented intuitive working strategies that evoke unplanned images from investigations that make use of traditional and non-traditional methods and materials. A variety of approaches from the traditions of art are employed—action painting, reductive/minimalist techniques, shaped panels, altering picture frame and plane, mixed media, digital painting/drawing, texture, and industrial materials.
I am passionate about creating art and am relentless in my studio investigations. I internalize the visual stimulation collected from visiting art museums, exhibitions, openings, performances, readings, etc. I draw upon this visual stimulation in a non-imitative way and trust myself to internalize and personalize things that strike me visually and intellectually. This information, transformed through studio investigations, is called forward intuitively into my works as either formal or narrative solutions.
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
How does one arrive at a point in their life where they strive only to be an artist? In reviewing my work—wall sculpture, paintings, drawings, and collages—my aesthetic as expressed in my latest pieces presents a great deal about my life experience and unique way of seeing the world.
Non-traditional and industrial materials, abstract or non-objective subject matter, and variations of branching, vein-like, linear patterns are common themes to be found in my work. Each piece draws the viewer to it on an emotional level by using these elements in conjunction with a bold contrast between softly curved and geometric forms as well as shadows and sparse, though intense, color usage.
My artistic journey began in my childhood in a suburb of Houston, Texas. In one of my earliest recollections, at age four, I remember frequently asking my mother to let me see her book, “the one with the man with trees in him,” of anatomical renderings showing the veins and nerves within the human body. The idea of veins, or branching patterns, is an important icon traceable from my childhood drawings of friends, pets, popular cartoon characters, fabricated characters and landscapes to my current work in which a variety of three-dimensional elements are used to create these patterns.
I always wanted to be an artist. Part of my home school education included frequent trips to the Houston Museum of Fine Arts, introducing me to the great masters early on, and to the Children’s Museum where I would commandeer the interactive drawing light table display for most of the day. My passion was further encouraged by my neighbor, also an artist, from whom I started taking drawing and painting lessons around eight years of age.
By the time I was in high school, I was consistently winning art shows in the local art leagues as well as taking commissions for small drawings. I also became involved with a local community theater which allowed me to design and help paint backgrounds for productions. My innovative nature led me to make several business ventures at that time which included handmade stationery and culinary arts, involving the beautification of food.
As a result of my artistic passion, majoring in art was a forgone conclusion when I enrolled in college full-time at age 16. I trained as a graphic designer, which helped develop design and layout skills as well as mastery in image manipulation, craftsmanship, presentation, and conceptual thinking in connecting images and ideas. These skills and strategies are still embraced in my current methods of working though at times I deliberately use counter approaches to overcome the limiting ordering systems I learned as a graphic designer.
Recalling my time as an undergraduate, I now recognize the narrow perception of art I unconsciously maintained. In my education during that time, there seemed to be a divide between those who embraced realism/representation and those who endorsed abstract/non-objective modes of artmaking. It seemed that one artist was not “allowed” to do both. Though something about this divisionist attitude did not strike me as correct, this divide pushed me to primarily hone skills that would enable me to create representational imagery.
Though my heart lived in the painting studio, I worked as a graphic designer for several years, gaining experience in digital media and making drawings and paintings on weekends and holidays. One cold, damp day, I realized I was only truly happy when working in the studio and was tired of my life as a “Sunday Painter.” This led me to create a series of work (each piece having the vein-like branching patterns) for a portfolio to gain entry into a graduate program.
Upon entering graduate school at Stephen F. Austin State University I continued to paint representational images, still mindful of the divide I had always been taught. I honed my abilities in rendering subject matter and produced several series of representationally themed paintings. The most notable of these was composed of representationally painted figures, fragmented and laid out into sculptural, multi-leveled blocks. This series was my way of inviting abstraction into my work and began the process of overturning the idea that an artist can only be of one type. This series also marked the shift toward my work as a realizable object rather than a painted window for my viewer to look through.
As I became more fully engaged in art study and creation, I felt something was missing in my work. I would often walk in the deep east Texas woods while considering this problem. Not only do branching patterns recount the vein patterns from the “man with trees in him,” but trees were always a part of my environment and were a natural motif latched onto by my subconscious. I had spent my entire life living in areas overshadowed by the grandeur of immense trees. One day I found my first tree branch: it had a sensuously curved shape, a beautiful deep mahogany color, and was amazingly smooth to the touch. What I would later call the “momentous tree branch” marked an important turning point in my work. The information gained from my many years of museum and gallery excursions, critiques with other artists, extensive art study, and informal conversations with students and art professors connected, and I realized my view of the divide between realism/representation and abstraction/non-objective art was artificial and limiting. This momentous branch opened a world of boundless options.
After my eureka moment, I could barely wait to begin working with my newfound realizations. Generally, I began to launch a piece by constructing an altered picture plane to facilitate an unfamiliar circumstance. The altered format means pieces begin with concave or convex areas, extreme ratios of height to width, or deep sculptural space which helps me avoid being predictable in my resolution of form. Such a destabilizing beginning often coaxes out inventive, fresh solutions and revelations from piece to piece.
After completing graduate school, I was hired to teach art at Amarillo College. During this time, I continued to explore innovative new media and techniques in my work. While there were many new things to see in Amarillo, the experience was a visually trying one primarily due to the lack of trees. I had been used to a constant canopy of trees over me and felt exposed in the wide open skies of West Texas.
During my time in Amarillo, I began making periodic visits to Dallas, Texas and became involved in the artistic community there. Making friends who were professional artists and socializing with full-time artists made me ache for full-time studio work again. This prompted me to retire from teaching and move to Dallas to make art full time.
Having the opportunity to truly work full-time on my art, I have renewed my discovery process and learned my working method has a lot to do with the spellbinding effect art has on me. I make art to find my voice and vision, to explore my subconscious through non-traditional mediums, to respond to a personal need for growth, and to stimulate my senses by experiencing the unknown.