 | | One of Tamar's pieces |
Tamar's had an incredible life so far. When her mother died after six months in a coma following a car crash, she looked after her youngest brother with her grandmother. When she passed away Tamar looked after her brother on her own, juggling working, childcare duties and pursuing her love of art. Eventually things began to get on top of her and she suffered a breakdown. After some time recuperating Tamar is back with more art projects than ever! She's studying at university and working part-time but her main love is exhibiting her art. See her current exhibition 'Mindful States' at The Chameleon Gallery, 23-25 Sandwell Street, Walsall, 6-27 October.  | | Tamar with one of her pieces |
She says: "I'm showing at the Chameleon Gallery which is over in Walsall, it's an exhibition called 'Mindful States'. It's a collection of work from three different artists and also some Mental Health Service users. The ideas is that the artists who are showing have used personal experiences or are trying to convey their mental health through their work. Reduced to scribbling"I do a lot of work in the mental heath area - though my work isn't all about that per se. If I go back to 2004, I was doing a lot of work and I was trying to put my artwork into boxes that were separate to my life. What I found was that my life was going downhill and I was finding it hard to cope. there was a big mental block between myself and my artwork. I was reduced to being able to just scribble lots of writing in my sketchbook.  | | See the Chameleon Gallery exhibition |
"I had to go right back to just scrawling really, from there I developed a style where I used writing - or ranting - or whatever's going on in my head. That was just before I had a breakdown and went into a psychiatric hospital. "What I found was as I used my work with what was going on in my head I went from having a complete mental block to suddenly there was work everywhere. It was just pouring out - it was obsessive really." Silent screamingI asked Tamar whether she thinks her work is more accessible to people because she has been so honest about the link between her mental heath and her work. She says: "I think because it is so open and very honest that people will perhaps be more likely to feel something when they look at my artwork. I think it is very accessible to a lot of people although interestingly there is a point where I shut off the outside world from my work. "A lot of my work is done by filling a child's medication syringe with enamel and writing on canvas, say. Depending on how I'm feeling, my handwriting will be different. But what happens is as you're writing, the enamel flows out and mixes together and you're left with what looks like a kind of pattern. "The point is, is that I'm writing whatever's in my head - it could be absolutely anything - and it would be quite painful for anybody to read it. But the way in which I write and the way the materials flow means that they can't actually read what I've written [laughs]. You'll see maybe a little phrase or pick out a few words - it's like having a rant or a scream but keeping it silent at the same time." On the up | | Tamar talks about coping with depression |
"I had this breakdown and I was producing lots of artwork. My artwork is my way of coping and carrying on. There is probably a hugely cathartic side of it but at the same time - how can I put it - it's something that I really need to do. "When I came out of hospital I wasn't working for about six months but the artwork was always something I could get on with. When I was in such a state that I couldn't communicate with people, the one thing that I could talk about was my artwork. I think it was the only time I became coherent really! [laughs] | 
