Tamlin Blake
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Tamlin Blake at work in 2009
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| Born | 1974 |
| Nationality | South African |
| Website | tamlinblake |
Tamlin Blake (born 1974) is a South African mixed media artist living and working in Riebeeck West. The major themes of Blake's work revolve around cross-cultural South African symbols of wealth and status and, more recently, what constitutes and underpins each individuals sense of belonging.[1] Her sculptural pieces often transcend boundaries between illustration, craft, and art, using weaving, beading, and drawing, amongst other media.[2]
The main body of Blake's beaded art works took the form of South African stamps finely woven using glass seed beads.[3][4] “By replicating these original stamps in a traditional craft idiom that has such a strong association with indigenous African cultures , Blake offers a genteel but acerbic reference to [South Africa’s] troubled past.” (Innes 2012: pg20 ISBN 978-0-620-52880-1).
While working on her own bead art Blake helped Jeanetta Blignaut,[5] to establish a bead studio which today exists as the Qubeka Bead Studio,[6] a collaborative owned by the bead artists themselves.
After this Tamlin used a variety of different media including three-dimensional pieces in felt and beads to explore the use of farm animals as valued commodities and symbols of wealth and status across the boundaries of race and culture.[7][8]
Blake's more recent work consists of tapestries woven out of recycled and hand-spun newspaper [9] a collection of which were bought by The Spier Holdings Contemporary Art Collection [10]
Blake received a master's degree in Fine Art from the University of Stellenbosch in 2001.[11] Blake majored in sculpture during her undergraduate studies, and then specialised in botanical art.[12]
Mural at the Spier Wine Estate in Stellenbosch.[12]
