About Reclaimed & Recycled
Since 1980, I have enjoyed exploring my fiber medium and pushing the edge of my technique to create meaningful and unique art sculptures.
From my morning walks in downtown Tucson, I actively been reclaiming fabric and other materials off the streets to reuse, repurpose and recycle in my art work. My textile fabrics are sourced through donations, secondhand stores, the streets and my own wardrobe. My beads are purchased commercially and recycled from jewelry gifted to me.
My subject matter ranges from botanical and textural expressions of nature to abstract forms that are inspired by the found materials I collect off the streets. There is an underlying message to my Street Series Collection that is about the never-ending flow of discarded material waste into our environment. The reclaimed and recycled materials tell an archeological story of who, where and when, while the sculptures themselves can give viewer hope for better things to come.
Since beginning this collection, people have begun to give me fabrics, clothing and jewelry they want to save from going to the land fill. This gifting of materials has taken my Rescued, Recycled, Repurposed Collection to a new level of sophistication of materials.
Here are what viewers are saying about my work.
“Tamara’s work is inspiring use of society’s waste, finding the esthetic in the mundane.”
“So much trash, so many ideas. Tamara sees the future beauty of the current rejects.”
“Tamara’s ability to see, true art, in the simplest, throwaway objects is witness not only to her creativity, but to her vision as a Being on our sometimes-cluttered planet.”