From the series Garden of Memories 2022
First shown:
Michael Reid Sydney + Berlin
Sydney Contemporary 2022
8 – 11 September 2022
In 2022, Tamara Dean took her focus on the human connection with our environment and her fascination with the otherworldly qualities of working in water to a new level by building an underwater studio on her property near Kangaroo Valley. The first works from her studio premiered in “Palace of Dreams” and “Garden of Memories,” her exhibition with Michael Reid Sydney + Berlin at Sydney Contemporary 2022.
“I aim for an otherworldly quality in my work and I really enjoy the sense of semi-abstraction and of tampering with gravity that happens in underwater spaces,” she says.
Dean’s new studio allowed her to turn images on their axis and show the discombobulating sense of defying gravity. She creates a dream-like world, an alternate reality where people appear to be swimming and flying simultaneously. This environment offers a beautiful sense of flow through the hair and the figures, almost a dancing motion.
Working in water also helps Dean express her deep concerns about the environment and incorporate that conversation into her work. “Humans are as vulnerable to the forces of climate change as every other living creature, as we can see from the impact of rising tides and the lives lost in the recent floods. Water is even a factor during bushfires, with people evacuating to beaches and seeking refuge there,” she explains.
The title of the exhibition is drawn from Alice Through The Looking Glass. The Mad Hatter tells Alice: “In the gardens of memory, in the palace of dreams, that is where you and I shall meet.” This theme also inspired the titles of several new works.
“I’m playing into the idea of a world turned upside down and weaving in topics such as climate change and rising sea levels without being too dogmatic. I aim to touch on the environmental concerns that I have while delving into the psychological responses that are so prevalent—the feeling that our future feels uncertain, the idea of where is up and where is down?”
“It was only at the end, when the works had become what they’d become, that I had the ability to see the literary references I could make. They related to the dream-like, surreal nature of the imagery,” Dean reflects.
Head above water, 2023
$3,500
In stock
From the series Garden of Memories 2022
First shown:
Michael Reid Sydney + Berlin
Sydney Contemporary 2022
8 – 11 September 2022
In 2022, Tamara Dean took her focus on the human connection with our environment and her fascination with the otherworldly qualities of working in water to a new level by building an underwater studio on her property near Kangaroo Valley. The first works from her studio premiered in “Palace of Dreams” and “Garden of Memories,” her exhibition with Michael Reid Sydney + Berlin at Sydney Contemporary 2022.
“I aim for an otherworldly quality in my work and I really enjoy the sense of semi-abstraction and of tampering with gravity that happens in underwater spaces,” she says.
Dean’s new studio allowed her to turn images on their axis and show the discombobulating sense of defying gravity. She creates a dream-like world, an alternate reality where people appear to be swimming and flying simultaneously. This environment offers a beautiful sense of flow through the hair and the figures, almost a dancing motion.
Working in water also helps Dean express her deep concerns about the environment and incorporate that conversation into her work. “Humans are as vulnerable to the forces of climate change as every other living creature, as we can see from the impact of rising tides and the lives lost in the recent floods. Water is even a factor during bushfires, with people evacuating to beaches and seeking refuge there,” she explains.
The title of the exhibition is drawn from Alice Through The Looking Glass. The Mad Hatter tells Alice: “In the gardens of memory, in the palace of dreams, that is where you and I shall meet.” This theme also inspired the titles of several new works.
“I’m playing into the idea of a world turned upside down and weaving in topics such as climate change and rising sea levels without being too dogmatic. I aim to touch on the environmental concerns that I have while delving into the psychological responses that are so prevalent—the feeling that our future feels uncertain, the idea of where is up and where is down?”
“It was only at the end, when the works had become what they’d become, that I had the ability to see the literary references I could make. They related to the dream-like, surreal nature of the imagery,” Dean reflects.
