Tamara English

The central concern of Tamara English’s work is the movement of the unseen energies informing the physical world.  The paintings integrate the visual vocabularies of quantum physics, Persian tile-work, European illuminated manuscripts, and abstracted forms derived from the natural world.   In particular the work references the rhythm and movement of the decorative elements found in mosques, Turkish dervish lodges, and medieval European sacred texts.  The work arises from a fascination with the intersection of verticality and the horizontal, or the meeting place of the infinite and the linear.  Quantum physics describes the universe as an ocean of particles in constant motion informing the physical and subtle worlds.  In her work, English explores the question of what animates these particles, and a fascination with the undercurrents of thoughts, emotions, beliefs, longings, and other deeper aspects of self.  English’s work is an investigation of the presence of the eternal in life.

Richard Speer, writer for ARTNews and Portland’s Willamette Week, calls English’s work “luscious,” “seductive,” and “haunting.”  Composed of many layers the paintings become intersections for the visual language of different cultures and belief systems, driven by the exploration of encountering the mystic within the individual. 

Tamara English was born in New Haven, Connecticut.  She now lives and works in Portland, Oregon.

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