Tara Macpherson’s art main subjects of choice are people and their life experiences. She takes inspiration from her past, creating images that make one look within themselves. Her images are mysterious, ambiguous and seductive; presumably that is why her work generates so much interest.
Majority of her paintings have a depiction of a female figure of an eye-catching nature with an aura of fatality about her. As mentioned earlier, her work is a projection of her past, and in a number of paintings the subject has a heart shaped hole in their chest, which it would seem stands for the emotions of love and torment that is part of us during our lives.
Inspiration is partly drawn from gothic art, which results in a moving and in some cases partially sinister imagery.
Personally I find several things interesting about her work: What strikes me the most is the quality of her drawings, if to be precise, then the quality of her line. Her line-work is smooth and uncluttered and her compositions are arranged in the way that elements do not fight for supremacy but benefit each other, make each other stronger . Next thing is her imagination, as often she takes advantage of basic, but nevertheless hidden fears of normal human beings. http://www.taramcpherson.com/art/Drawings/Drawings/Detail/BAD8F1/Fractal+Valley+Drawing
http://www.taramcpherson.com/art/Paintings/Fractal%20Lake/Detail/CCF5C5/Fractal+Valley
For example the “Fractal Valley Drawing”: When you are swimming in the sea or a lake, momentarily you become aware of the fact that you are defenceless from what lays beneath you. As well as the stories of the mermaids that were present for centuries, may be unconsciously reinforcing these fears. This particular drawing has a dark ambience about it, as the sky is riddled with lightning and the mountains in the background seem a little bit ticked off. But these are not the most frightening elements of the composition, as in the centre bobs a half exposed female head with just her eyes on display (That at once makes me think of a victim of drowning), surrounded by a lot of hands sticking out of the water. I think this subject was executed with exceptional effectives, making the observer instantly aware and reminiscent of that ball of emotions.
The colouring technique is also of a very high standard, as her work is vivid and vibrant, as often she makes use of hot and cold colours within the composition to draw in the attention of the viewer or to highlight certain aspects of the character, like femininity or emotional baggage. But the most important of all is that within the colour scheme nothing fights for supremacy.
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