Artists

Ceramicist/Jeweller

Tamara Rookes creates works in two different trajectories. Clay and metal. Despite these two usually divergent processes and materials, each of her pieces exhibits cohesion with each other and within her overall practice.

Rookes’ eye for design and construction can be traced back to her formal studies at Fashion School. It was there she began to develop her own take on juxtaposition, the elegant balance between raw and refined which she has honed over time.

Light and darkness connect Rookes back to her Scandinavian heritage. The brightness of a glowing kiln, the intense heat of casting metal like the fires of the Viking metalsmiths. Towards the periphery, in the shadows, we catch fleeting glimpses of her subject matter, faces, birds and mythical creatures in the night-time woods.

Rooke’s practice is driven by experimentation and curiosity, fuelled by her interest in the alchemy of metals. Blending metals, applying heat, casting, observing reactions, residues and changes of state are all part of the process her works go through before they are complete. “The casting process follows on from my work in clay, a translation of process into another material. It is a sculptural approach to constructing ceramics and jewellery”. From that point onwards, it is important to Rookes they continue to develop their own patina as they take on a life of their own.