Artist Feature: Tamara Muller
...innocence of youth...guilt of adulthood.
Tamara Muller’s paintings are haunting portraits that plumb the depths of her own psychology, each a juxtaposition of the personal and the universal, exploring themes of power, domination and submission. In her work, the faces are almost always her own. They are stylized but rendered with an uncanny realism. Other parts of the canvas may be blocked in with simple brushwork or even left unfinished bringing the focus of the work to the faces whose eyes stare unflinchingly back at the viewer. They are not self-portraits in the traditional sense, each face plays a role in her pieces. These roles are oftentimes vague, flickering between man, animal, woman, child, seducer, victim, sometimes combinations of two or more. There is a tension in her pieces, between the presumed innocence of youth and the transgressive desires and guilt of adulthood. This disturbing psychological dichotomy is carefully balanced by a visual sense of wit and humor.
Tamara Muller (1975) is a Dutch artist. Upon graduating from the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague (NL), she began an active exhibition career as a painter while studying at the Actors-Studio in The Hague. She obtained her MFA at the Academy of Art and Design Post St. Joost in Den Bosch (NL). She is also accomplished as a performance and video artist. Muller has shown work throughout the globe including solo exhibitions in Tokyo (Ginza’s Art and Concept Laboratory) and Amsterdam (Galerie Bart) and group exhibitions in the Museum of Modern Art in Arnhem and Galerie Zweigstelle in Berlin. Her work is represented in Art Fairs throughout the world including Tokyo, New York, Berlin, Amsterdam, Dublin and Miami. To view more of her paintings, you can visit her artist site here.