For an emerging artist, Brisbane-based Tamika Grant-Iramu has an incredibly well-defined practice and an immediately recognisable aesthetic, which is no doubt the reason she has already attracted intense interest within the art community both in Australia and abroad. Since graduating from the Queensland College of Art with a Bachelor of Fine Art in Interdisciplinary Print Media in 2017, she has been a finalist in both the 2018 Telstra NATSIA Awards and the 2019 Haugesund International Festival for Artistic Relief Print in Norway.
Working in relief printmaking, Grant-Iramu produces intimate portraits of the natural world, where the organic flow of the landscape is captured in her bold and intensely detailed style.
Inspired by her local Brisbane environment, the artist seeks out under-appreciated and unnoticed snapshots of the flora surrounding her. “I have a strong sense of connection to my hometown”, she says, “and am constantly inspired by the nature I come across in my day-to-day life.”
By choosing a monochromatic palette, Grant-Iramu encourages the viewer to appreciate the boundless array of textures and delicate structures that can be found hidden in our urban environment.
The pieces are densely worked, often contrasting spans of intense detail with twisting paths of negative space. In many cases, Grant-Iramu allows her subjects to escape their paper support, joining several smaller works into an assemblage that grants a more natural flow. Both native and introduced fauna tussle for space among winding branches, making the mundane almost magical.
The process of printmaking is eminently suited to portraying the natural world, as there is a sense of chance that is built into the physical procedure of producing prints. “When carving relief blocks, you never truly know how the imagery you carved is going to turn out,” says Grant-Iramu, referring to the exciting endeavour of pressing carvings on to paper. She uses Impress Printmakers Studio, a Brisbane-based, community run organisation for local printmakers.
A growing part of Grant-Iramu’s practice is embracing the various threads of her heritage. With Papua New Guinean, European, and Torres Strait Islander ancestry, the artist is moving toward a blend of the various aesthetic and technical aspects of her culture’s distinct artistic traditions. This aspect of her artistic approach was superbly demonstrated in her recent collaborative show with Cairns-based artist Brian Robinson (represented by Onescape Gallery, Brisbane and Mossenson Galleries, Perth). Held at Onespace Gallery, which also represents Grant-Iramu, A Carved Landscape: Stories of Connection and Culture, conveyed a dynamic visual conversation between two artists of Torres Strait Islander decent and their experiences of their local environments.
Grant-Iramu’s works are visually striking and diligently executed, showcasing the natural beauty of the city she calls home. Through her prints, we too can experience the twisting vines and verdant foliage hidden just out of sight, each leaf meticulously rendered so they can be justly appreciated.
Tamika Grant-Iramu is represented by Onespace Gallery, Brisbane.
Featured image: Artist Tamika Grant-Iramu. Photo: Joe Ruckli. Courtesy: the artist and Onespace Gallery, Brisbane.