Tamsin Relly
South African-born artist Tamsin Relly talks to Oliver Projects founder Katherine Oliver about exploring new ways of working on paper, and the evolution of her work in response to events both globally and at home.
What does monoprinting offer for you that painting directly onto paper does not?
I continue to be intrigued by how the character of mark varies between the two. For the monotypes, I paint watercolour onto an acetate-like plate, and leave it to dry before running it through a press to print onto damp paper. In my experience, this is so much about how paint responds to and dries on that smooth surface. The marks can take on a glassy quality themselves, which transfer with impressive accuracy onto the paper.
I’m also interested in how the process helps break down or disrupt the images I’m working with. It’s tricky painting onto a slippery surface and as I like to work with quite wet paint, a lot can change as it dries. The image also comes out in reverse. So, from what you think you’ve put down in front of you, compared to what comes out from the press – there’s something alchemical about it all, and an element of surprise, right up until the end. All these things help take away a little of one’s control. In contrast, working direct to paper I find the editing part of my mind can get in the way and I’m more susceptible to over-working things.
Do you work from life and if so – where? How do the works made from life evolve once you get back into the studio?
I love drawing from life. It’s something I used to do a lot more of, almost obsessively. Wherever I went, I’d have pencil to paper, tracing the lines and shapes of whatever was in front of me. I would draw indoors, outdoors, on public transport, in local parks or when on a research trip to a specific location.
Mostly these drawings have just remained as sketches in themselves rather than being translated or worked directly into new images. But I think my love of drawing – whether in more intense phases or not - has been fundamental to the development of my work generally over the years. I think it can create a habit of ‘seeing’ and being present to what is around you – for me it instilled a way of observing and relating to the world, as well as developing my relationship with mark and composition.
I take a lot of photographs to use as references. By now, I have piles and piles of them in the studio, which I’ll pick through before making new work. I usually use them as a loose compositional starting point, allowing the work to evolve without holding too tightly to it. These days, sometimes the image shifts so much I can't always be sure of which was my original reference. Or I’ll re-use the same reference multiple times, always with a different outcome.
How would you describe the themes or ideas that currently interest you most in your practice?
I’m interested in ecology and the impact that we’re having on our environment through our day to day lives. And the ways in which we find connection with nature - remembering that we are a part of it.
Recently I have been exploring the origins and migration of wild and cultivated plant and flower species. I’ve been thinking about how many of the plants we encounter locally may have come from other parts of the world or originally been known by other names.
We’re living through interesting times; whilst our global pace has slowed down, there is space to reflect on how the living world responding. As human activities gather momentum again, how can we move towards a more reciprocal and respectful relationship with our planet?
Tamsin Relly, Where We Merge 2, 2021, monotype, 38 x 28cm.
