Cultural Legends of Vanuatu - Diana Tam
01 Dec 2012 - 31 Dec 2013
Place: Diana Tam Studio, Port Vila
DIANA TAM
The Pacific Islands have played home to many talented artists. Diana Tam is one of these. Her artistic career has been as diverse as her multi cultural background. As an Australian born in Hong Kong her extensive world travels have ensured that all her work is imbued with flamboyance and vitality. In the early eighties Diana led the way with her interest in hand painted fabrics and dress as an art form. Never afraid to move on, she then successfully turned her hand to dress designing.
Diana's work is unashamedly a celebration of life. The riotous colour reflects the passion and sensuousness that we associate with her Vanuatu home. Her work includes landscapes beach scenes and still life. In all we are conscious of the intense blue of the Pacific. This reminds us that each of us is in a way an island.
Her outward looking images remind us of the tensions that exist between the inner and the outer world. These images depict an inner world where beauty abounds, where one can create one's own surrounds. Yet we are ever conscious of the outer world and the dominant blue of the Pacific. This appears calm and tranquil but the intensity of the colour, and the clouds on the horizon assure us that this can change. Whilst in the main her work is non figurative, we are always conscious of an absent presence, in the bowl of flowers carefully placed, in the empty chairs waiting to be occupied, or the cups of tea waiting to be drunk. This is perhaps suggestive of the ephemeral nature of happiness.
Her work is reflexive of the impressionists as she is concerned with the interplay of the intense light of the Pacific upon form.
Diana's preferred medium is oils but she now has a range of limited edition prints. Her works are held in private collections around the world, and have been sought after by many hotels for their public displays.
Diana lives and paints in her Port Vila home and Gallery on the shores of the beautiful Erakor Lagoon. Her website http://www.dianatam.info/ will provide a window on her work.
