“The best road is the one you make”
We are all threads of a long rope that goes back countless generations and through which everyone is connected. Which threads connect the different generations? How do we experience this connection? What liberates us and what oppresses us? What gets passed on?
With that in mind I create my work.
Artist Statement
I play to find. The making process is playful and discovering. It is not (only) about the result, but about the process, which is intuitive. There is a lot of potential in this approach for play, discovery, research, criticism and questioning.
By asking questions like 'Who are we?', 'Why do we behave the way we do?' I look for different dimensions and layers in my own history. This is reinforced by my multicultural background. I carefully build up my works to emphasize that everything and everyone is layered.
It is inevitable for me to use techniques that emphasize different dimensions and layers, such as (canvas) collage and photomontage, sometimes even installations.
Taking an image out of its original context and linking it to others gives it a new meaning. The resulting image can have an alienating effect, but can also be familiar. I want to offer the viewer space to pause and look beyond the first impression.
Color is like music or poetry to me, it resonates with who I really am. Color gives my work meaning and perspective, but above all it can be interpreted in its own way by the viewer.
A background with many faces. The work as a union between cultures in my life.
Tamara Traxel studied at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague.
She lives and works in The Netherlands.