We caught up with multidisciplinary artist Tamsin Relly to talk about her journey as an artist, her practice and the relationship of art with mental health and her involvement with Hospital Rooms –an arts and mental health charity that commissions extraordinary artworks for NHS mental health inpatient units across the UK.
What are the moments that have inspired Tamsin Relly on her creative journey – and and continue to inspire her?
Originally from South Africa, Tamsin Relly is a visual artist who has been living and working in London for the past 10 years.
Tamsin’s work has spanned an eclectic spectrum of different expressions and media – from painting and printmaking to writing and photography.
More recently, Tamsin has evolved her practice to reflect the love, respect and concerns she has for nature. By embracing the highly pigmented, flowing qualities and rich, organic tones of watercolours, her work exquisitely evokes the essence of the natural world.
We visited Tamsin in her studio to hear how different moments have influenced her unique watercolour journey. Watch the full interview below.
South African-born artist Tamsin Relly talks to Oliver Projects founder Katherine Oliver about exploring new ways of working on paper, and the evolution of her work in response to events both globally and at home.
‘Metro is thrilled to support South-African born, London-based artist Tamsin Relly for her part in a recent project for Hospital Rooms – an arts and mental health charity that commissions world class artists to transform locked and secure wards with museum quality and compliant artwork. This latest project is for Eileen Skellern 1, a psychiatric intensive care unit for women at Maudsley Hospital, South London.
World class artists including Julian Opie, Aimee Mullins, Paresha Amin, Nengi Omuku, Tim A Shaw, Harold Offeh and Tamsin Relly were invited to work in genuine partnership with patients and clinicians to co-produce museum quality and NHS compliant artworks for the unit, with the aim to radically transform the physical environment on the unit making it more conducive to recovery.’
Lyn Holm inteviews a range of South African artists – including Tamsin Relly, Claudette Shreuders, William Kentridge and Hasan Essop – on their experiences of the differences between exhibiting in South Africa and abroad.
Cape Argus feature during the Arcadia exhibition at SMITH, May 2016 in Cape Town.
‘Cape Town-born artist Tamsin Relly has taken her love of nature around the world to highlight the impact humans are having on the environment – and is now back to show her work.’
Tamsin Relly’s abstract paintings of ice landscapes and forests are kept in mostly in greens and greys, with frosty white accents, for example ‘Ice Mountain’ (water-soluble oils and gesso on aluminium), ‘Ice Grotto I’ (water-based monotype on Somerset paper) and ‘Greenhouse II’ (water-based monotype on Zerkall). The artist, who recently spent some time in the Arctic Circle in order to witness the effects of global warming first-hand, captures her reaction to this global issue on various types of paper, aluminium, as well as on an impressive giant Mohair Tapestry (‘Business as Usual’), which resembles an underwater volcano erupting in icy waters.