Tamara Tarasiewicz

The current work encompasses both the abstract paintings of the series Windows to Nature and the imagistic canvases of Spirituality. The former group suggests the realm of the intellect, a garden that balances growth, order, and geometry. In Spirituality, the rows of round forms have morphed into the outlines of figures in an active organic space.

Windows to Nature, A/O on CNVS, 58 x 68 in

In Spirituality, the figures retain a connection to life, while their forms have become less substantial. Although they may appear as just outlines, they are part of the vibrating energy around them. The artist seeks to depict both the visible material world and also invisible dimensions, such as thoughts, dreams, emotions, imaginations. In these paintings, there is an evocation of spiritual feelings and a sense of our passage through this existence, the entrance into a non-material world, and the continuity after life.

Spiritual Unity, A/O on CNVS, 40 x 60 in

In both groups of paintings is the artist’s use of simple forms and lines that are both strong and mysterious, translating onto canvas her thoughts and observations on the life that surrounds her. There is a spontaneous, free use of color. In the viewer’s euphoric reaction, the sound of color, is the inner world made visible. In all of the work, the process is intuitive, but under strict conscious control. Although no sketches are used, the artist has a vision in mind of the process of the paintings from beginning to end.

Woodland Spirits, A/O on CNVS, 58x 58 in

A work begins with the artist painting random patches of color on the canvas with acrylic and metallic pigment, and ceramic paste. Next, the canvas is placed on the floor and acrylic and oil paint are squeezed from tubes, and liquid acrylic is poured, creating the outlines of people, animals, plants, and other imagined forms. Brushes and wooden sticks are used, along with scratching and textures.

Running through the artist’s work is her concern with the visual and emotional poetry of painting. Her focus is on the process of continual invention. The message is the freedom to imagine and express. It is the artist’s intention for the viewers looking at her art to experience their own vision, complex feelings, and positive attitude toward life.

John Mendelsohn, New York