Cambewarra photographer and installation artist Tamara Dean won the biennial Meroogal Women’s Art Prize on Saturday.
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The prize celebrates achievements and creativity of NSW female artists, and pays tribute to four generations of women who lived in Meroogal, the historic Nowra house.
Tamara took home $7000, a Bundanon Trust Artist in Residence scholarship and Sydney Living Museums (SLM) membership.
What inspired Tamara in creating the winning photograph, Transcience?
“It’s sort of my dream house,” she said.
“That really domestic sense of sitting in the garden, having a cup of tea and seeing the play of light on a door, the shadows of the plants that are nearby, that really domestic connection spoke to me; I wanted to depict that.”
Meroogal Women’s Art Prize judge and SLM strategy and engagement director Caroline Butler-Bowden said much deliberation took place before choosing three winners and 37 displays from 194 entries and 188 artists, but Tamara’s work stood out.
“There was something about it that continuously spoke to the judges,” Dr Butler-Bowden said.
“For SLM, it is about the history and the continuity of life in these places, and how we honour the lives of the really strong women who lived here. I think this work spoke to all of us about continuing that in an abstract way. There was a cleverness in it, there was a beauty in it, and you’ll see in the house it’s just perfectly positioned, it brought out all the themes of why this place really matters.
“It allowed us to look at this special property in a new light, I think all good work does that.”
In her award acceptance speech at Meroogal, Tamara acknowledged the women close to her heart.
“I grew up in a house of girls, I have two sisters, an incredibly strong role model in my mother, and my daughters are here so I guess there are a couple of parts of my life that came together for me when I was interpreting the house,” she said.
She’s thankful for her Cambewarra studio and home.
“I moved to the Shoalhaven a few years ago, so this is a wonderful affirmation of that,” Tamara said.
“There is such an amazing, vibrant artistic community down here. Being close to the Shoalhaven Regional Gallery and also, Bundanon, all of these regional centres of artistic excellence in the area really build a thriving community. I count myself very lucky to be a part of that.”