Connect To The People, Intercept My Brain. Cheers To The People Riding The Train
Tamara Mendels

Connect To The People, Intercept My Brain. Cheers To The People Riding The Train

$8,000 AUD
AUD $8,000 AUD

2026 – Original

Acrylic, synthetic polymer and epoxy resin on canvas.

137cm x 127cm

Artwork Statement
Hundreds of hours spent methodically painting lines in my studio, repeated actions, line after line. The result is energetic and free, a loaded brushstroke with the illusion of spontaneity. I have to be brave, even rebellious, to pour a massive splat of house paint onto a painting that has taken so long to construct.

Dualities exist simultaneously: freedom and containment, control and spontaneity. Oppositional forces coexist. Certainty is an illusion, and the unexpected is perhaps the only certainty. Abstraction offers a personal freedom; it is poetry made tangible.

Created in the lead-up to Exploration 26, the work echoes the grunge and flamboyance of Melbourne’s urban landscape. Its thick black outlines recall the bold graphic language of Pop Art and comic-book imagery, while its graffiti-like forms, abundant colour and visual excess introduce a heightened sense of energy.

Beneath this visual excess lies a tension between the desire for connection, the need to be seen and heard, and the solitude essential to independent thought. In a world of constant distraction, where we are increasingly controlled by what is presented to us, painting remains an act of personal freedom.

Read: Artist Process

Learn more about Tamara Mendels

Spontaneous, rhythmic gestures lay the foundation for my practice. Certain markings draw me in that I then reconstruct on canvas. Fleeting gestures are fixed in place and given symbolic weight, ribbons of colour are then moulded into form bound by a black outline. Punctuated by psychic dripping blob-like structures, they strike down as cognitive intrusions destabilising the linear flow. My process oscillates between chance and control, method and spontaneity. For me, abstraction offers a way to mirror the complexities of human experience.

Tamara Mendels lives and works in the Northern Rivers of New South Wales, Australia. She has been a finalist in numerous prizes, including the Wollumbin Art Prize (2026, 2024), the Wollongong Art Prize (2025), the Urunga Small Sculpture Prize (2025), and was the recipient of the Fauvette Loureiro Traveling Scholarship, Sydney College of the Arts (2008). Mendels’ work is held in The Leeder Art Collection, Tweed Regional Gallery and private collections.

DOWNLOAD CV
Artworks currently on exhibition will be shipped once the exhibition concludes.
Layby (Layaway) Payments

Pay for this artwork over time. Choose Layby as the payment option at checkout.

Pickup or Shipping

This artwork can be picked up from the gallery or shipped to you.