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Monday, June 06, 2016

Tamar Branitzky - Artist and Designer

Illustration: Tamar Branitzky. Textile art

There is a space in textiles, as in other disciplines, where art and design can play an interactive game. The singular subjectivity of fine art and the general practical requirements of design may seem to be poles apart, but anyone who has worked in both fields will know how the two share more than they sometimes wish to admit. 

Creative individuals who straddle art and design are actually relatively large in number, I myself have a design degree, as well as fine art training and sensibilities, and find it relatively easy to move between the two, understanding and empathising with the two different outlooks on creativity.

The artist and designer Tamar Branitzky is just that, an artist and a designer. Her work straddles the two worlds, with some of her output being aimed specifically at the fine art world, and some specifically at the design world. 

Illustration: Tamar Branitzky. BO1 fabric

Illustration: Tamar Branitzky. BO1 fabric

Interestingly, her work, both for art and design, are not instantaneously separated by look and feel. Tamar manages to a lot of crossing and weaving between the subjective and the practical, with elements of fine art coming out in her design work, and design principles being encased in her fine art work. To me that seems like the best of possible outcomes, to have an element of practicality within fine art, and a level of sensitivity within design work is what we definitely need more of!

Tamar's initial inspiration for both fine art and design, often comes from the natural environment around her. She is particularly interested in the stages of life as seen amongst flora, particularly flowers themselves, being intrigued at the processes to be found between blooming, decomposition, disintegration. She collects flowers and branches, readily combining them with free-hand drawing.

Illustration. Tamar Branitzky in her studio

Illustration: Tamar Branitzky. Sketchbook

Tamar is keen to make representations in her work, to show contrast and to show passage, to detail the effect the travel of time can have over an object, such as the bloom of a flower. The detail of colour, tone, and texture that happens as part of the passage of flower from bloom to husk is an integral part of her work, and can readily be seen on many of the textile surfaces that she produces.

As far as her fine art work is concerned, she uses a range of materials, including fabrics, papers, old books, maps, stamps, watercolour drawings, and real organic materials. The combinations of the materials used give Tamar such a broad scope. The flexibility and delicacy between paper and fabric for example, inspires a near magical relationship that gives Tamar endless possibilities.

Illustration: Tamar Branitzky in the studio
Illustration: Tamar Branitzky. Textile Biennale, Eretz Israel Museum

Tamar has also processed and developed her own fabric techniques, which she has called BO1. BO1 fabrics are handmade artistic surfaces created using a unique chemical process. The fabrics are made up of a combination of chiffon, silk, and cotton, and can be used as a variety of fashion and interior accessories, from scarves and clothing, to lampshades, upholstery, and co.

Tamar produces textile work, whether for fine art or design, in such beautiful combinations, where colour, tone, and texture play with and against each other in ever differing compositions. All is unique, all is beautifully complex, and as with nature, Tamar's supreme inspiration, all is forever changing.

Illustration: Tamar Branitzky. Wearable art scarf

Illustration: Tamar Branitzky, 2015

More of Tamar's work can be found at her comprehensive website: www.tamarbranitzky.com, as well as on etsy: www.etsy.com/il-en/shop/TamarBranitzky. She can also be seen and followed on pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/tamartextile3/, and  instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tamar_branitzky_designs/

All photographs of Tamar's work were provided by: Roy Mizrachi, Gilad bar Shalev, Eretz Israel Museum.

Please also be aware that all imagery was kindly supplied by Tamar. If you wish to reproduce any of the photos please ask her for permission first. Thanks!

Illustration: Tamar Branitzky. Textile art

3 comments:

Inbar Shahak Textile Jewelry said...

Beautiful art, thank you so much for sharing

John Hopper said...

Thanks so much for your comment Inbar, it is very much appreciated

sulue said...

Amazing textile art. Keep it.