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Artist Statement:
Tamara Natalie Madden was born
in St. Andrew, Jamaica and
raised in Manchester,
Jamaica—a place that many
refer to as the “bush.” It
was during her childhood in
Manchester that Madden was
exposed to her first artistic
influences. As an early
reader, Tamara spent most of
her days reading children’s
books and found herself
enthralled by the colorful
illustrations. Her uncles, who
were Rastafarians, played an
important role in her artistic
development as well. At age 5,
she remembers seeing pencil
drawings that her uncle
created. She was fascinated
and remembers trying to
understand how he could create
something from nothing. Her
uncles were also amazing
sculptors, sculpting beautiful
carvings from scrap wood. In
that same year her uncle Carl
taught her how to sharpen her
pencils with a machete. From
that point on, she decided
that she would be an artist.
Tamara has always loved
literature and spent most of
her teenage years reading and
writing poetry and short
stories. Her vivid imagination
and memories would play a
major role in her future
artistic creations. She won
her first art award at age 14
and found inspiration from a
summer school art teacher, who
believed in her...
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Tamara Natalie Madden Biography:
| Biographical information for Tamara Natalie Madden can be found below. The artist may choose what information to display. Sometimes the artist chooses not to display personal information to the general public. |
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| Your Personal Biography |
Tamara Natalie Madden was born in St. Andrew, Jamaica and raised in Manchester, Jamaica. It was during her childhood in Manchester that Madden was exposed to her first artistic influences. She continued to pursue art during her high school years, studying advanced literature, photography and creative writing. In 1992, when her art teacher passed from cancer, her sadness, along with teenage concerns, diverted her attention from art. Tamara created art sporadically for the next few years, with her passion eventually dissipating as life issues took precedence over her creativity.
In 1997, Tamara was diagnosed with a rare genetic kidney disease called IGA Nephropathy. Over the next few years she would watch her body deteriorate while she tried to maintain sanity amidst all of the toxins collecting in her body. In order to maintain some semblance of normalcy, she began to create again. In 2000, Tamara took a trip home to Jamaica in hopes of reuniting with family and finding a long lost brother. She had no idea that the trip would save her life. Her brother offered his kidney to her upon seeing the condition that she was in. This amazing offer was consummated in 2001 with Tamara undergoing a successful kidney transplant. That year she participated in her first art exhibition, making good on the promise that she had made to herself long ago to become a professional fine artist.
Tamara uses self-developed drawing and painting processes to create. She creates in remembrance of everyday survivors and her work is heavily influenced by her vivid memories of growing up in rural Jamaica. In addition, she has recently delved into abstraction and contemporary expressionism, welcoming the opportunity to indulge her love for color and texture.
Tamara has always felt a connection to ‘everyday folk’, the working class, the unseen and unheard, the true warriors of our time. She realized, however, that many people, who may have suffered through a similar struggle, did not want to revisit those struggles so she decided to turn her ideas inside out. Inspired, by the golden period of Gustav Klimt and images of royalty from Egypt and West Africa; she decided to turn regular folk into kings and queens. It seemed, in her view, to be the only way to allow them to be represented and appreciated for who they were intrinsically; kings, queens and warriors who never had a chance to shine, their ragged clothes and despondent appearance setting the tone for others to judge them. The birds in the pieces represent a sense of freedom. It was her way of injecting her personal experiences into each painting and remembering her escape from illness and dialysis.
Her work has been featured in the New York Times and many of her pieces are in the permanent collection of prestigious universities, including Vanderbilt University in Tennessee and Alverno College in Wisconsin. She’s exhibited in many group and solo exhibitions throughout the United States and Canada. Additionally, she was a recipient of an individual grant from the Puffin Foundation for her project, 'Never Forgotten', which focuses on combating poverty worldwide.
' My art is a reflection of my personality—vivid and buoyant.'
– Tamara Natalie Madden |
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