My work is centred around the process of building pictures, notably exploring the dialogue between light and colour, and the interplay between form and surface. Each work develops over considerable time, with multiple iterations echoed beneath the next, and so time and transformation play an important role in the outcome. There’s a rigour of observational drawing at the core of each work, and I often use familiar landscapes, spaces, places or objects as the catalyst. I will return to the same subject to gather drawings and ideas before arriving at a painting, working from multiple viewpoints. And so it feels inevitable that memory and imagination finds its way into the work, drawing from my experience and relationship to the subject. With each perspective or additional dimension, I hope to build a more whole picture. But inevitably, what emerges is still only a starting point rather than a conclusion.

“Painting is very much back on the agenda this year, as it is at all the Scottish degree shows. Cat Tams’ still lifes are a highlight. She is interested in what paint can do, exploring light and colour through objects”

“Cat Tams is a sensitive and vigilant observer of her environment and is gifted in her ability to apply painterly techniques - the layering of pastels and oil paint with sophisticated motion creates a lush quality. With particular attention to light, colour and form she creates an interplay between volume and surface. Capturing the influence of her environment, Cat translates it into figurative works with intellectual response”

C O N T A C T

cattamsart@gmail.com
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