Tanya Stubbles    Artist Statement

Born 1973 Tanya is a south coast artist,  who is now able to concentrate on her practise after many busy years with four little children.  She had her first child at the age of 21 so had limited time to professionally develop her art practice. Tanya believes that in surrendering to the process of motherhood she has allowed development of her creativity through visual documentation and observation.  Whilst the demands of domesticity created challenges in physically producing work, a rich creative dialogue triggered a strong interest in construction. Through construction I could explore my love of surface and texture through the collection and composition of materials. Tanya sees motherhood as being a gestation phase of her creativity when many ideas presented themselves which were later manifested. Tanya grew up on a rural property with a lot of freedom to just be—to play imaginatively. She recalls vividly a birthday party at the Riversdale property where Arthur Boyd was painting. Being only four years old she was not allowed to go to the river with the other children. So she watched Boyd working and vividly recalls the paint splattered cement floor of the studio and sunlight streaming through the wide windows overlooking the river. She loved the way in which he approached his work with thick meaty strokes of paint.  In this moment she was inspired by the liberation and freedom of expression.  She thinks this triggered her resolve to become an artist. Tanya describes herself as a social landscape painter. A social landscape is an expression of the way in which the people of a particular place interact with their environment. Tanya’s goal is to explore the Australian identity, our stories and pastimes.  She seeks to create iconic images which weave together stories of the land, its people and history. Through the use of nostalgic and sentimental elements sourced from all over Australia, Tanya creates works which speak to the people of their experiences.  Construction offers a opening to access the subconscious through materials which in turn trigger the memories of childhood experiences and pastimes.   Tanya explores both rural and industrial landscapes and defines herself as working in abstraction of the landscape.  Her use of materials and the interpretaions of the places are always constructed through a highly intuitive process.  Since commencing to work seriously as an artist, Tanya has been very successful in local art shows and in Sydney. She is delighted to be in the Wynne prize in 2008 and looks forward to returning to her rural roots later this year with a residency at Bundanon.