TAMARA OSSO BODY OF WORK
20 Years of Making & Moving
“Osso’s artworks grapple with the connection between the immediacy of performance and the physicality of painting. In her career, she excelled as a ballet and contemporary dancer and performed with numerous local and international theatre companies before pursuing her studies in the visual arts field. She is a qualified teacher and currently runs workshops from her studio.”
DISORDER OF ANTICIPATION | Body is stressed
Painting Exhibition
2018 – 2020
The Disorder of Anticipation Series is a psychological exploration of paint in relation to chaos, sadness and trauma. All of which are present when living with a person who suffers from epilepsy.
This piece is titled ‘Seizure’ (framed) – available for purchase
TUTU | Body is seeking
Choreographed Production
2017
Tutu is a short story written and produced for Dance Umbrella 2017 by Tamara Osso. In collaboration with Shanell Winlock, Laura Cameron, Kgotsofalang Moshe & Nathan Attie Botha from Moving into Dance Mophatong. The story is about reorganising social, cultural and personal structures. The challenges people face and the impact of their responses to those challenges.
TOUCHWORKS | Body is here
Ongoing since 2016
Touch-works are paintings on glass developed as physical and emotional check-ins. It is a painting ritual, performed once a week.
“They help me to orientate where my body and mind are and how I am feeling in a particular moment” – Tamara Osso
This piece is titled ‘Nervous’
Various touch-works available
SELF-PORTRAIT V | Body is engaged
Photographed performance piece with paint on glass
2012
Can the dancer and the painter exist in one space?
Yes.
Limited edition of 3. Self-Portrait I – V available
SUBURBIA | Body is disembodied
2014
A piece developed in response to living in a gated community.
Individual hand-blown glass sculptures available
PREGNANT | Body is consumed
Installation with convex safety mirrors
2014
This installation piece was produced when Osso was pregnant. It explores how growing a fetus inside one’s body forces an examination of one’s external reality. The experience is alien.
Available for purchase
ODE TO YVES KLEIN | Body is engaged
Performance piece with paint and canvas
2014
This performance is an acknowledgement to the practice of Yves Klein. His avant-garde, ritualised approach to painting and conceptual gestures have influenced Osso’s exploration of movement and materiality.
VIRTUALLY REAL | Body is removed
Painting exhibition
2014
The first painting exhibition which explored the movement experienced when scrolling through social media platforms like Facebook. It is removed yet intimate all at once.
2 paintings available from this body of work