Tanja Stark

Contemporary Australian Artist

suburban gothic & the Sublime Divine
mixed media : Sculpture : Painting : artisan ware


“..there is something deeply elemental about clay
it is a primal substance
pulsating with ghosts of ancient makers
of hands that shaped forms and vessels filled kilns and stoked furnaces
of creations immersed in the fire and heat transmuting wet earth into permanence
a sacred alchemy“

Tanja Stark

https://www.instagram.com/tanjastark_artist/

Shed Snake is back again even bigger than last year. At nearly 3 meters if it’s the same one he’s thriving and really thick. I was a little nervous to put my hand in to try and rescue the possum when he had such a tight grip and lots of leverage, and my face was in striking range so had to let nature take its course. (Pythons aren’t venomous, but a bite or worse, a coil might be nasty! ) Another pic from my chat with @andrew_bartlett64 at #4zzz yesterday. We chatted about everything from art to jung, soapbox gallery, epilepsy and ketamine. I’ll post the link soon. Thank you @andrew_bartlett64 for hosting me on #4zzz @4zzzradio today - wonderful to see you as always ! I've been diving into old journals, full of poignant melancholia from decades past. Suburban Gothic indeed. #suburban #gothic #hauntology #melancholia #poetry #desire #restless #suburbangothic #tanjastark #souls #brisbane #art My long term fascination with epilepsy as an artist growing up with a father with refractory Complex Partial temporal lobe Seizures has sparked a lifelong curiousity about the relationship between creativity, spirituality and altered states of consciousness. The First Supper Burn Baby Burn ; Tanja Stark [Soapbox Gallery 2002] is a series of photographic images of skin, the body, ash, fire and electric coils. Stark describes the sexualised coil images infused with sadistic/masochistic and fetish undercurrents as an exploration of the paradoxical nature of desire and exploitation. The inherent meaning of the work is complex. Are the images about reclaiming control of the body, or have the electric coils evolved into targets? Is the act of branding flesh in some way associating women as something to be marked, owned, or continuing a recurring theme, consumed? #flesh #burn #suburbangothic #brisbane #artist #fire #brand #skin #element #scar Seems Pirate’s new cat flap is quite the hit in the neighbourhood. Explains a lot 🙂 The Sublimest of Vessels Believing the strangest things. Sublime Divine There is an archetypal quality to these pieces, imbued with the essence of ancient antiquity, and a hint of 60s modernism. #copper #sydney #artisan #earrings #brisbane #maker #artist A powerful piece at the Art Gallery of NSW, both as an Australian …and the mother of a son I named Hunter. https://www.instagram.com/reel/CvbvsBQNTwQ/ X : Melaleuca, Copper, Rubber. Stark, 2021 Imagi-nation Evidently living the artist dream in my bush studio involves wildlife rescues as a side hustle. Come out and say hi anytime. I’d love that x #karanadowns #possums #kookaburras #suburbangothic #sublimedivine #australianartist #artstudio #bird #australia #nature #kookaburra #rescue #bird #flyway #studiolife #brisbane #wild #art #brisbaneartist #westernsuburbsbrisbane #bneart #wildanimals #bite #flesh #skin #scar The Sacred and the Scarred The Sacred and the Scarred Snippets of my studio #brisbane #art #artist #australianartist #studio #suburbangothic #artstudio #sublime #archetypes #symbol #spiral #coil #element #texture #mixedmedia #neuroscience #nd #melaleuca #bird #copper #eclipse #moon My suburban gothic snake muse keeping me company…. #art #snake #python #artstudio #brisbane Baby Possum Rescue! Baby Possum Rescue! Undercurrent. Studio visitor tonight… Electric Eclipse Firebull Shadow https://www.instagram.com/reel/CowJFh9gEPw/